Okagbare handed hefty 10 year sporting ban after Athletics Integrity Unit finds her guilty

NIGERIAN sprint queen Blessing Okagbare has been handed down a hefty 10 year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for breaching its doping rules after she was found guilty of a drugs test failure.

Okagbare, 33, who has an Olympic silver medal in the long jump from the 2008 Beijing Games, was provisionally suspended before the 100 metres semi-finals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics last year when the test failure came to light. Following the actual hearing of the case, she has now been handed an extensive ban, which for all intents and purposes ends her athletics career.

An AIU spokesman said the sole arbitrator adjudicating the case concluded that Ms  Okagbare’s use of multiple prohibited substances was part of an organised doping regimen in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games. He added that this egregious conduct led to an increase in the normal four-year sanction.

Okagbare,  who denied all charges, was given a five-year ban for returning doping tests positive for Erythropoietin as well as Human Growth Hormone. She was then handed an additional five-year ban for refusing to cooperate with an AIU investigation.

AIU boss Brett Clothier, said: “We welcome the decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal. A ban of 10 years is a strong message against intentional and coordinated 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.”