The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Tokyo 2020: Nigerian Okagbare is the first case of doping and remains outside the 100 meters of athletics

2021-07-31T04:55:12.672Z


Yesterday he had won his series and today he was preparing to run for the final. The 'growth hormone', a prohibited substance, was detected.


07/30/2021 11:40 PM

  • Clarín.com

  • sports

Updated 07/30/2021 11:40 PM

The Nigerian sprinter

Blessing Okagbare

, one of the theoretical "outsiders" for the final of 100 meters of the Olympic Games that takes place in the Argentine morning of this Friday, was

suspended for doping after a positive control for growth hormone

, indicated the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

Okagbare (32), the 2008 Olympic long jump runner-up,

was controlled out of competition on July 19.

She is the first athlete declared positive

during the Olympic period of these Tokyo 2020 Games.

"The

Athletics Integrity Unit

(AIU) provisionally suspended Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria with immediate effect following a positive result for growth hormone in a sample (...) The AIU took Okagbare's sample in an out-of-competition test on July 19, "the AIU wrote in a statement.

Asked by the AFP agency, the athletics anti-doping body did not wish to specify whether the test had been carried out in Japan or in another country.

Technically, if the sample was taken by the AIU,

it could not be in an Olympic facility

, since there the responsibility lies with the ITA (International Control Agency).

Blessing Okagbare.

Photo Giuseppe CACACE / AFP

Growth hormone is within the group of

"unspecified substances"

in the list of prohibited substances of 2021 prepared by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA, according to the acronym in English).

In the case of these substances, the provisional suspension is "mandatory" when an

"adverse analytical" is found

, as the positive is officially called in an anti-doping control.

The WADA-accredited laboratory that analyzed the sample notified the AIU of the finding on Friday, July 30.

Blessing Okagbare was due to participate this Saturday at 7.15pm local (7.15am in Argentina)

in the 100m semifinals

, whose final is scheduled for 9.50am in our country, after having won his series on Friday (11.05).

The Nigerian is the

seventh best of the season

in the straight line (10s89 on July 6).

She is also the African record holder in the 200 meters (22s04 in 2018).

From "high risk" to complaints

Blessing Okagbare's triumph in the Japanese Friday heat.

AP Photo / Petr David Josek

On Thursday, Nigeria had seen

ten of its 23 athletes

selected for the Games in this sport

banned from

participation in the event

because they did not comply with the standards of

anti-doping

controls

outside of competition.

Nigeria, which is one of the countries considered "high risk" by the AIU, must submit to supplementary obligations.

"The sports system in Nigeria

is totally flawed

and we athletes are always the

collateral victims

," Okagbare had lamented yesterday on his Twitter account.

The sprinter is part of a very high level group based in Florida (USA) and trained by the American

Rana Reider

, which includes some favorites of the men's 100 meters like the American

Trayvon Bromel

l and the Canadian

Andre de Grasse

.

AFP

Look also

Tokyo 2020: Simone Biles dropped out of two other artistic gymnastics finals

Tokyo 2020: In an epic duel against Milak, Caeleb Dressel won gold with a world record in the 100m butterfly

Source: clarin

All news articles on 2021-07-31

You may like

Sports 2024-03-01T09:04:06.417Z
Sports 2024-02-29T14:25:28.271Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.