Issam Asinga has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit just over a week shy of the World Championships in Budapest. 

The organization announced on Friday that Asinga, the ground-breaking teenage sprint star from Montverde Academy who broke the World U20 record in the 100m and set a high school national record in the 200m over the outdoor season, was allegedly found to have used a prohibited substance via a recent sample.

Asinga, 18, was set to represent Suriname in the World Championships. Having won a South American Outdoor title in the 100m in a wind-legal 9.89 seconds, he was considered a potential medal candidate. 

Asinga was given a notice of the AIU's allegations on August 9. The substance in question, GW1516, is prohibited under WADA. 

On Friday evening, Asinga made a statement on social media. He said the sample in question was taken on July 18. He ran at the South American Outdoor Championships on July 28. "With the AIU's assistance, the Rio laboratory in Brazil, expedited an analysis of my sample which also came back negative last night (August 10th)." 

He said the alleged "amount found in my urine sample, is 0.2 nanograms per ml." 

The Athletics Integrity Unit, founded by World Athletics in 2017, was created to help find and combat doping in athletics. 

Under World Athletics, a provisional suspension is "mandatory ... following an adverse analytical finding for any non-specified substance on the Prohibited List." 

According to the AIU, provisional suspensions are made not as an "early determination of guilt," but as a way to protect and safeguard the interests of the sport. 

Asinga will be unable to compete for Suriname temporarily until a final determination is made via a hearing by the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules or the Integrity Code of Conduct. If the decision is held, Asinga could face a ban of up to four years, per anti-doping guidelines. 

"My team and I are aware that the next generation of track stars is looking up to me, and I would never intentionally let them down," Asinga wrote on Instagram. "The AIU has agreed to test my B sample, before the World Championships next week. Until that time, I will remain steadfast and wait." 

The AIU has provisionally suspended Issamade Asinga (Suriname) for the presence/use of a Prohibited Substance (GW1516).

Details here: https://t.co/Y8LF9j2o9f pic.twitter.com/JDBRnGp4iO

— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) August 11, 2023

Asinga, a dual citizen of Suriname, Zambia and the United States by virtue of his parents, is a recent graduate of Montverde Academy. 

He broke the high school national record in the 200m in April, clocking a time of 19.97 seconds. In June, he ran 9.89 seconds at the South American Outdoor Championships, which catapulted him into another stratosphere and broke a World U20 record. 

He produced five sub-10 second 100m races over the 2023 season, though his last was his first wind-legal performance. 

In doing so, he surpassed Letsile Tebogo's World U20 record of 9.91, which had stood since 2022.

UPDATE, 2:49 p.m. CST: 

Asinga has made a statement on Instagram. 

Related Link: 

AIU's Provisional Suspensions