By Gabriel Atumeyi
Nigerian athlete, Blessing Okagbare has been suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for alleged doping.
In a statement on Saturday, AIU said her suspension is with immediate effect after a sample collected from the sprinter tested positive for human Growth Hormone.
According to the ant-doping body, the 32 year old athlete tested positive for the prohibited substance in an out-of-competition test on July 19, days before the Olympics officially commenced.
It said WADA-accredited laboratory that analysed the sample and notified the AIU of the adverse analytical finding at mid-day Central European Time yesterday, Friday 30 July, and that Okagbare was notified of the adverse analytical finding and of her provisional suspension this morning in Tokyo.
Okagbare had won her heat in 11.05 seconds and was due to run in the semifinals on Saturday. The highly-anticipated women’s 100 final is the last event on the day’s track schedule.
With the suspension, she will no longer compete at the Tokyo Olympics.
Okagbare is one of Nigeria’s most promising athlete, having won a silver medal in the long jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and at the 2013 world championships. She also collected a bronze in the 200 meters at the 2013 worlds in Moscow behind gold medal winner Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who is the favorite for the 100 title in Tokyo. Okagbare did the 100-200 double at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Okagbare’s suspension came three days after the AIU announced that 10 track and field athletes from Nigeria were among a group of 20 from various countries who were disqualified from competing at the Olympics because they hadn’t met minimum doping test requirements.
Some Nigerian athletes who said they were among those who were barred from the Olympics by the AIU protested on the streets of Tokyo this week. They held up signs claiming Nigerian sports and anti-doping authorities were responsible for them not meeting the testing criteria.
In her reaction to the suspension of fellow Nigerian athletes, she said that the sport system in Nigeria is flawed and that athletes are always at the receiving end of the damages.
See the full statement below:
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has provisionally suspended Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria today with immediate effect after a sample collected from the sprinter tested positive for human Growth Hormone.
Growth Hormone is a non-specified substance on the 2021 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List and a provisional suspension is mandatory following an adverse analytical finding for such substance under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules.
The AIU collected the sample from Ms. Okagbare during an out-of-competition test on 19 July.
The WADA-accredited laboratory that analysed the sample notified the AIU of the adverse analytical finding at mid-day Central European Time yesterday, Friday 30 July.
The athlete was notified of the adverse analytical finding and of her provisional suspension this morning in Tokyo.
She was scheduled to participate in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m this evening.
The AIU will make no further comment on this matter at this time.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) is the independent body created by the World Athletics that manages all integrity issues – both doping and non-doping – for the sport of athletics.
The remit of the AIU includes anti-doping, the pursuit of individuals engaged in age or competition results manipulation, investigating fraudulent behaviour with regards to transfers of allegiance, and detecting other misconduct including bribery and breaches of betting rules.
It is the AIU’s role to drive cheats out of our sport, and to do everything within its power to support honest athletes around the world who dedicate their lives to reaching their sporting goals through dedication and hard work.