Breaking! Nigerian Athlete, Blessing Okagbare Banned For 10 Years Over Doping Accusations

Blessing Okagbare , Nigeria’s 2008 long jump silver medalist has been banned for 10 years for doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Friday. Doping an act or instance of giving a drug to an athlete or horse, so as to affect performance in a race or other competition. <br /><br />The 33-year-old, who is also a 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.<br /><br />The Disciplinary Tribunal has banned Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare for a total of 10 years, five years for the presence and use of multiple prohibited substances and five years for her refusal to co-operate with the AIU’s investigation into her case.<br /><br />The sole arbitrator also recognised the AIU’s right to carry out investigations, including the imaging of electronic devices, and to impose sanctions when an athlete refuses to co-operate with an investigation and thereby frustrates the AIU’s ability to execute its mandate to protect the integrity of the sport of athletics. <br /><br />In this instance, the sole arbitrator concluded that the athlete’s refusal to cooperate had denied the AIU the opportunity to discover evidence of possible further rule violations by her as well possible violations of the rules by others, for which he imposed an additional sanction of five years.<br /><br />“We welcome the decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal; a ban of 10-year is a strong message against intentional and co-ordinated attempts to cheat at the very highest level of our sport. 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,” said Brett Clothier, Head of the AIU.<br /><br />On 07 October 2021, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had pressed charges against Ms Okagbare in relation to separate disciplinary matters. First, for the presence and use of multiple (two) prohibited sub