Spint queen and Nigeria’s hope for a medal in the ongoing Olympic Games in Tokyo Japan has suffered a glitch in what May turnout to be a major blow for Team Nigeria for one of many reasons; Chiefly is the possibility of a failed drug test for Blessing Okagbare.
The highly decorated athlete is under provisional suspension for testing positive to HCG a human growth hormone.
The drug test sample was analyzed in a laboratory accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency and when the positive test was discovered, the AIU was notified.
AIU provisionally suspended Okagbare of Nigeria, with immediate effect after an out-of-competition sample collected from the sprinter tested positive for human Growth Hormone, (HCG) a ban substance on the 2021 WADA Prohibited List.
Okagbare will no longer compete at the Tokyo Olympics, where she was set to run in the women’s 100-meter semifinal.
Word was passed along to Okagbare while she was in Tokyo after she competed in the first round of the 100m on Friday. Okagbare is an Olympic silver medalist in long jump from the 2008 Games.
The AIU issued the following statement:
“Earlier in the week, the AIU announced 20 athletes had been pulled from competing at the Olympics because they did not meet mandatory drug testing requirements being from countries that are considered ‘high risk’ if their respective anti-doping protocols are not up to par. 10 of the athletes were from Nigeria and the Athletics Federation of Nigeria admitted to lapses on their anti-doping control. Several of the athletes staged a protest within the Olympic Village on Friday.”
Okagbare won long jump silver at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing whereas at the 2013 World Championships she took long jump silver and 200m bronze.
At the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 she won the 100m and 200m.
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