Okagbare was a medal contender for the women's 100m at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after an impressive run of form.
She ran a wind-assisted 10.63 seconds at the Nigerian trials in June, before winning her heat in Tokyo in 11.05.
Okagbare then “tested positive for human growth hormone” on 19 July, ruling her out of the semi-finals.
An Olympic silver medalist in the long jump in Beijing 2008 and World Championship silver medalist at Moscow 2013, she also holds the Commonwealth Games record of 10.85 in the women’s 100m from Glasgow 2014.
A statement read: “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.
“The sole arbitrator adjudicating the case concluded that the athlete’s use of multiple prohibited substances as part of an organised doping regimen in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympic Games was egregious conduct that amounted to aggravating circumstances under the Rules thereby warranting an additional period of ineligibility on top of the standard four-year sanction.
“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 fulfil its mandate to protect the integrity of the sport of athletics. 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.”
“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.”
from independent .co.uk
She's quite pretty
ReplyDeletevery beautiful lady
DeleteGuess it is time for pretty Blessing to switch careers.
DeleteBut why 10yrs?? Cos she’s black innit? Same harsh verdict given to that footballer that kicked a mere cat. Cos he’s black!!! Mtchewww!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are actually the racist in this situation. The reasons for the longer sentence was because she REFUSED TO COOPERATE- an additional 5 years. This attitude of yours is what makes it difficult for certain people to thrive outside Nigeria because they look for someone other than themselves to blame instead of taking personal responsibility. No one banned Michael Johnson, Donovan Bailey, Mary Onyali or Falilat Ogunkoya. Don't break the rules and you won't have a problem.
DeleteBut a skater tested positive and they allowed her skate, reason was, she was below 18 and Russian.
ReplyDeleteDem dey fear Putin ni?
DeleteChai 10 years is much now
ReplyDeleteChai
ReplyDeleteThis is sad😥.
ReplyDelete10yrs😮😮😮, huh!! Haba nah..
ReplyDeleteArbitrator be sounding like a judge, the bias is clearly written all over these statements. Arbitrators are supposed to mediate not judge, "refused to cooperate" can mean a lot of things e.g if dehumanizing conditions were refused, or inappropriate requests were turned down.
ReplyDeleteNext time avoid substances w GH and other banned substances. There's growth hormone in some fertilizers and food, she may or may not have doped.
Chai! This is the end of Okagbare's athletes career unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI tell u. The end.
DeleteI hope this sentence can be amended. Ten years odikwa too much o.
ReplyDeleteTen years is too much nau
ReplyDeleteThe punishment don’t fit the crime.
ReplyDeleteTen years is too much
Even doing long fasting increases the bodys human growth hormone.
ReplyDeleteWill it also show the presence of substance abuse in the system? Just asking for my ignorant cat.
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