Izuchukwu OkosiNigeria’s Queen of the Track, Blessing Okagbare, got up to 10 years in a career-ending ban for doping violations because she refused to cooperate with the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
33-year-old Okagbare was handed five years for use of multiple prohibited substances and five additional years for her refusal to co-operate with the AIU’s investigation.
The Nigerian super track star was a medal contender for the women’s 100m at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after an impressive run of form.
She ran a wind-assisted 10.63 seconds at the Nigerian trials in June, before winning her heat in Tokyo in 11.05.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelOkagbare then “tested positive for human growth hormone” on 19 July, ruling her out of the semi-finals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Okagbare, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s 100m heats before being provisionally suspended, faced fresh charges from the Athletics Integrity Unit.
The AIU charged the Nigerian – an Olympic and world silver medallist and two-time Commonwealth champion – with use of the banned substances Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and EPO, while also allegedly failing to co-operate with the investigation.
The use of HGH was found in an out-of-competition sample collected on July 19 before it was reported to the AIU on July 30, the day upon which Okagbare won her 100m heat at the Oly1mpics. She was then provisionally suspended one day after that race and forced to fly home from Tokyo.
In addition, EPO – also known as Erythropoietin – was found in another of the Nigerian’s out-of-competition samples, on June 20. Two days earlier, Okagbare had run a wind-assisted 10.63 for 100m in Lagos.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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