Blessing Okagbare’s Doping Ban Extended
- Anu
- June 28, 2022
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- blessing okagbare banned, Blessing Okagbare's Doping Ban Extended To 11 Years
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The Athletics Integrity Unit has extended the ban on Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare to 11 years.
The Nigerian sprinter was previously suspended for 10 years for doping in February 2022.
But the AIU in a document obtained on Monday added one additional year to Okagbare’s ban after she allegedly failed to respond to the charges by the extended deadline -June 21, 2022.
The 33-year-old was charged with “evading sample collection, and tampering or attempted tampering with the doping control process”.
Six days after she had evaded sample collection on June 13, 2021, she competed in the relay event at Nigeria’s Olympic trials, helping her team to qualify for the world championships.
Those results have now been disqualified due to Okagbare’s involvement and Nigeria has therefore lost its potential qualification place in the women’s 4x100m relay at the world championships in Oregon in July.
“Over the years, we have repeatedly seen how one person’s actions adversely affect team-mates who have trained hard and worked honestly for their results,” AIU head Brett Clothier said in a statement.
“In this instance, Nigeria has lost an important qualification spot. Those are the rules and we will not compromise on integrity.”
Okagbare, the 2008 Olympic long jump silver medallist, won her 100m heat in Tokyo last year, but she was thrown out of the Games after the AIU said she had tested positive for a human growth hormone following an out-of-competition test.
