August 13, (THEWILL) – The small list of athletes suspected to have cheated at the recently concluded Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan now includes British sprinter CJ Ujah, who won an Olympic silver medal in the 4x100m relay in Tokyo. Following the standard procedure, he has been suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
The alleged anti-doping breach, which the AIU announced still needs to be proven before the 27-year-old Ujah and the entire British team consisting of Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Richard Kilty and Zharnel Hughes will be stripped of the silver they won behind Italy in the relay.
THEWILL recalls that the AIU had pulled African Queen of the sprint and strong Team Nigeria medal hopeful, Blessing Okagbare, from the Games just as she was beginning to get into steam in her events because she tested positive for Human Growth Hormone.
In the case of Ujah, the AIU said that samples from him were found to have the “presence/use of prohibited substances ostarine and S-23, which are selective androgen receptor modulators (SARM)” which are substances commonly used to build muscle in the body.
If it is confirmed that ostarine and S-23 were actually in his system, it will be an unfortunate outcome for his clean teammates Mitchell-Blake, Kilty and Hughes. They will have to forfeit their medals as a direct consequence after all the pains and joys of qualifying for the Games and making it to the podium.
In doping news so far according to the AIU, Bahrain’s 1500m runner Sadik Mikhou has been provisionally suspended pending confirmation of cheating allegations. Georgian shot-putter Benik Abramyan and Kenyan sprinter Mark Otieno 4 also face provisionally suspensions following adverse tests results.
The AIU statement to this effect read in part: “The AIU now awaits the conclusion of the International Testing Agency (ITA) proceedings against the above athletes, which will determine whether any anti-doping rule violations have been committed and what consequences (if any) should be imposed in relation to the Olympic Games.
“Any consequences beyond the Olympic Games to be imposed upon the athletes under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules will be determined following the conclusion of the ITA proceedings.”
The countries that stand to profit from an upholding of Ujah’s ban are Canada and China, who were third and fourth respectively. Canada will see its bronze medal upgraded to silver and China will get another podium finish to add to their bronze tally of 18.
On August 6, Italy beat Great Britain to the line in just 0.01 seconds to claim top spot on the podium in the thrilling relay final.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
