Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria has been banned for 10 years for multiple doping violations by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU)
The 2008 Beijing Olympics long jump silver medalist was handed a five-year ban for the presence and use of prohibited substances and another five-year ban for her refusal to co-operate with the investigation.
The 33-year-old sprinter was expelled from the Tokyo Olympics last year before the women’s 100m semi-finals after testing positive for human growth hormone at an out-of-competition test in Slovakia on July 19.
AIU said that the ban commences from July 31, 2021.
“The Disciplinary Tribunal has banned Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare for a total of 10 years,” read an AIU statement.
A copy of the judgement obtained read in part, “For the reasons set out, The Tribunal:
“Finds the ADRVs contrary to Rules 2.1 and 2.2 ADR proved;
“Imposes a period of Ineligibility of five years concurrently on each of the Rule 2.1 and Rule 2.2 ADRVs;
“Finds that the Athlete failed to comply with the Demand and cooperate with the AIU investigation in breach of Rules 5.7.3 and 5.7.7 ADRV and imposes a consecutive period of Ineligibility of five years; and
“Therefore, imposes a total period of Ineligibility of ten years which commences on 31 July 2021.
“The Tribunal also orders that the Athlete’s results from and including 20 June 2021 are disqualified with all resulting consequences including forfeiture of any medals, titles, ranking points, and prize and appearance money.”
