March 18, 2025
Montverde Academy Track Coach Gerald Phiri Provisionally Suspended Amid Doping Investigation
By Kyle Coppola
Montverde Academy Track Coach Gerald Phiri Provisionally Suspended Amid Doping Investigation
MONTVERDE, Fla. — Gerald Phiri, the director of track and field at Montverde Academy, has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) as part of a doping investigation in coordination with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
The AIU announced via a press release Phiri’s suspension on March 17, citing alleged anti-doping violations linked to multiple athletes under his coaching. According to the agency’s statement, three Montverde Academy sprinters tested positive for GW1516, a prohibited substance, between July 2023 and August 2024.
Phiri, a former Texas A&M standout and Olympian for Zambia, previously coached Issam Asinga, the high school sprint sensation who shattered the World U20 record in the 100 meters with a wind-legal 9.89 seconds in 2023. Asinga was also provisionally suspended last August after testing positive for GW1516. He has maintained his innocence, claiming his positive test stemmed from contaminated Gatorade Recovery Gummies.
(Coach Gerald Phiri is a former olympian and current coach at Montverde Academy. Photo Credit – Montverde Academy.)
The AIU further alleges Phiri committed additional anti-doping rule violations, including the possession of GW1516 as an athlete in 2018 and 2019 and the possession of Meldonium as an “Athlete Support Person” in 2024. The agency also accused him of failing to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
Montverde Academy, a prominent Florida prep school known for producing elite high school sprinters, has not commented publicly on Phiri’s suspension. I personally reached out to Michael Damon the sports and information manager but I have not heard back at the time of this article being published. If and when I hear back I will update with the most up to date information we can get.
Phiri, who competed at the 2012 London Olympics, ran for Texas A&M from 2008 to 2011 before transitioning into coaching.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Photo Credit – MileSplit and Montverde Academy
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
