Blessing Okagbare Gets 10-Year Ban For Doping
Nigerian sprinter, Blessing Okagbare has been handed a 10-year suspension for using banned substances during the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics.
According to The Athletics Integrity Unit, Okagbare’s will serve a five-year ban for using prohibited substances and another five-year ban for failing to cooperate with the AIU’s investigation into her case.
Nigeria News House (NNH) reports that Okagbare was provisionally suspended July 31, hours before her scheduled appearance in the women’s 100-meter semifinals in Tokyo, after she tested positive for human growth hormone (HGH) in a sample taken before the Games. She subsequently was found to have tested positive for recombinant erythropoietin (EPO) in a different sample.
During the AIU’s investigation, the organization said, Okagbare refused to turn in her cellphone as evidence as requested.
“A ban of 10-year is a strong message against intentional and coordinated attempts to cheat at the very highest level of our sport,” AIU head Brett Clothier said in a statement announcing the ban. “This is an outcome that was driven by our intelligence-led target testing as well as our commitment to investigate the circumstances behind a positive test.”
The athlete has 30 days to appeal the AIU’s decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport if she chooses. Otherwise, the ban effective ends the 33-year-old’s career.
Okagbare made her debut at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, where she won a silver medal in the long jump.
She transitioned to the 100-meter sprint and won six gold medals and one silver in various events at the African Championship. She finished eighth in the 100 meters at the 2012 London Games and didn’t qualify for the 100-meter final in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
