Wolves speedway ace Kyle Howarth cleared over 'inconclusive' drugs test

The 25-year-old faced an anxious four-day wait after a drugs test prior to his scheduled guest appearance for Edinburgh against Glasgow on Friday came back as inconclusive.

But it has now revealed to have been caused by traces of painkiller co-codamol, which he was prescribed following a big crash at the British Semi-Final on May 31, and has now been cleared to ride again – with his next Wolves appearance due against Swindon at Monmore on Monday night.

"I haven’t known which way to turn since Friday night," said Howarth. “I want to thank my family and friends for their support over the past few days because they’ve been the worst days of my life.

“Thankfully I’ve been surrounded by the people who know me better than anyone else and they know I would never take a drug.

“But because of other people jumping to conclusions, my life has been hell.

“I’ve taken a lot of abuse on social media, I’ve had private messages that I didn’t need during such a tough time and it’s not been very nice at all.

“The truth is out there now though and I’m so pleased because it means I can get back to focusing on my racing and put this all behind me."

Explaining how he came to be prescribed co-codamol, Howarth said: “When I crashed in the British Semi-Final at Redcar, my shoulder popped out and I also broke a rib.

“I had to go to the hospital and because of the pain, they prescribed me co-codamol.

“I took that as they said and when the news came back from the lab today (Tuesday) – it’s traces of the co-codamol which are showing up.

“It wasn’t even medication I’d bought over the counter which is what we first thought it must be.

“The fact of the matter is I never failed a drugs test – it was inconclusive and there is a big difference.

“To go to help a team out and then not only get stopped from riding for them but also have a temporary suspension put on me was a total shock."

Despite a stressful few days, Howarth remains behind anti-doping regulations in sport.

He added: “I totally understand why these tests are put in place and even after what I’ve gone through the past few days, I fully support them going forward.

“Speedway is a professional sport at the end of the day and these things are put in place for important reasons."