Blessing Okagbare suspended for drug violation

Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare.  a sprinter and 2008 Olympics long jump silver medallist, has tested positive to banned substance and has provisionally been suspended from the ongoing Tokyo Olympic.

The AIU said in a statement issued this morning that the 32-year-old had tested positive for a human growth hormone following an out-of-competition test on July 19.

It stressed that Okagbare was notified of her provisional suspension this morning.

The body declined making any further comment at this stage.

The 32-year-old, who has also won world championship medals in the 200m and the long jump and is competing in her fourth Olympics, had comfortably won her 100m heat in Tokyo on Friday with a time of 11.05 seconds, qualifying for Saturday’s semi-final.

She was also due to compete in the 200m as well as the 4X100m relay. Okagbare, Olympic long jump silver medallist in Beijing in 2008, had posted a time of 11.05 seconds in winning her 100m heat and was set to line up against Asher-Smith and Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herath in the first semi-final today.

The news comes two days after 10 other Nigerian athletes were declared ineligible for the Games. The AIU ruled they were unable to take part because of non-compliance with out-of-competition drug testing requirements in the run-up to the Olympics.

The 10 were part of the 20 barred from the Games from seven countries that included; Belarus (3), Ethiopia (1), Kenya (2), Morocco (1), Ukraine (3), and Bahrain (0) whose athletes missed three Out of Competition Tests (OCT).

On the list of banned substances, human growth hormone reduces body fat, increases muscle mass and strength and helps in recovery, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Okagbare’s silver medal from the Beijing Games was a result of her being upgraded in 2017 after the International Olympic Committee disqualified Russian athlete Tatyana Lebedeva due to a doping offence. She had originally finished third in that long jump competition.