Japan (AFP) – Long jump world record holder Mike Powell was suspended from sport on Friday by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) under a “safeguarding order.” The decision means Powell is barred from the world championships which begin on Saturday in Tokyo, and will be unable relive his greatest triumph. The American set the world record, which still stands, at the 1991 world championships in the Japanese capital.
The AIU, an independent disciplinary tribunal, did not spell out why it had issued the order. It did, however, release a brief statement saying that Powell was suspended from “World Athletics-sanctioned activities and activities in athletics, including no accreditation or credentials at World Athletics Series Events or any competitions or events organised or sanctioned by World Athletics.”
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Since 2022, Powell, 61, has been a jumps coach at Azusa Pacific University, a private evangelical Christian school near Los Angeles. In addition to two world titles, he won Olympic silvers in 1988 and 1992, finishing behind his great rival Carl Lewis both times.
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