Marvin Bracy-Williams, a 100-meter World Championship silver medalist, recently accepted a 45-month sanction for anti-doping rule violations. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), alongside the Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees the integrity of track and field, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, opened an investigation into Bracy-Williams upon receiving a whistleblower tip. Nearly two years ago, in February 2024, Bracy-Williams tested positive for an anabolic agent in an out-of-competition test and was immediately provisionally suspended by the USADA.[1]
USADA is the national anti-doping organization for Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American, and Parapan American sports in the United States. USADA manages anti-doping programs, results management processes, drug reference resources, and athlete education for all United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee-recognized sport national governing bodies, their athletes, and their events.[2]
According to the USADA, Bracy-Williams initially tried to tamper with the investigation. Shortly after the attempted tampering, Bracy-Williams admitted to his actions and eventually assisted in the investigation. Under Article 10.8.1 of the Code, “an athlete who faces an anti-doping rule violation that carries a period of ineligibility of four or more years may receive a one-year sanction reduction if the athlete admits the violation and accepts the asserted sanction within 20 days of notification of the alleged anti-doping rule violation charge.”[3] In addition to the one-year reduction for admitting his violations, the USADA granted Bracy-Williams a significant reduction of his sanction by providing “important substantial assistance to the investigation.”[4]
While Bracy-Williams was only supposed to be subject to a 21-month sanction, he committed an additional anti-doping rule violation by accruing his third Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period while included in a USADA’s Registered Testing Pool.[5] While a typical Whereabouts violation ranges from 12 to 24 months, the USADA determined that Bracy-Williams would receive 24 months of ineligibility, as this was his second violation. Due to this Whereabouts violation, Bracy-Williams’ 21-month sanction was raised to a 45-month sanction from the date of his initial provisional suspension—February 4, 2024.
This is not the first time a track and field athlete has received hefty sanctions for USADA violations—and it likely will not be the last. Kartik Kumar of Saharanpur, India, recently accepted a three-year period of ineligibility after he tested positive for multiple prohibited substances during an out-of-competition test.[6] Like the investigation of Bracy-Williams, Kumar’s investigation was also the result of a tip.
According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, two years of ineligibility for a serious anti-doping rule violation has been the consensus since the 1999 World Conference on Doping in Sport.[7] However, with the rise in increasing lengths of anti-doping sanctions, as seen with Bracy-Williams and Kumar, are agencies such as USADA moving towards a future of heavier sanctions?
Photo credits: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/video/paris-2024-summer-olympics/marvin-bracy-williams-dad-track/3491448/
[1] Reuters, US Sprinter Bracy accepts 45-month sanction for doping violations, Reuters (Nov. 10, 2025), https://www.reuters.com/sports/us-sprinter-bracy-accepts-45-month-sanction-doping-violations-2025-11-10/.
[2] USADA, About USADA, USADA, https://www.usada.org/about/ (last visited Nov. 25, 2025).
[3] USADA, Track & Field Athlete Marvin Bracy-Williams Accepts Sanctions for Anti-Doping Rule Violations, USADA (Nov. 10, 2025), https://www.usada.org/sanction/marvin-bracy-williams-accepts-doping-sanction/.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] USADA, Track & Field Athlete Kartik Kumar Accepts Sanction for Anti-Doping Rule Violation, USADA (Nov. 12, 2025), https://www.usada.org/sanction/kartik-kumar-accepts-doping-sanction/.
[7] World Anti-Doping Agency, Article 2 Anti-Doping Rule Violations, World Anti-Doping Agency https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/LEGAL_code_appendix.pdf#:~:text=First%20violation:%20Two%20(2)%20years’%20Ineligibility.%20Second,this%20sanction%20as%20provided%20in%20Article%2010.5. (last visited Nov. 25, 2025).
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