We all woke up to the news and we were all left in shock. The track and field’s drug-testing agency temporarily suspended a Nigerian sprinter after a failed drug test, the first drug-related suspension of an active athlete at the Tokyo Games, back in July 2021.
In a statement, the Athletics Integrity Unit, which runs the anti-doping programme for the sport, said that a sample collected from the sprinter, Blessing Okagbare, during an out-of-competition test on 19th July had tested positive for growth hormones. Okagbare, 32, won her opening heat in the women’s 100 meters 24 hours earlier and had been scheduled to run in the semifinals a day later before the news filtered in.
Okagbare’s suspension was not the first testing-related problem for Nigeria’s track and field competitors at the Olympic Games in Tokyo Japan.
A few days before the suspension of Okagbare, the Athletics Integrity Unit declared 20 Olympic track and field athletes ineligible to compete because they had not met out-of-competition testing requirements leading up to the Olympics. Of the 20 athletes, 10 were from Nigeria.
Fast forward 7 months and the worst that we feared came to pass. Our sprint sensation, Blessing Okagbare had been banned from the sport for 10 years.
“The Disciplinary Tribunal has banned Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare for a total of 10 years,” read an Athletics Integrity Unit statement.
“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 biggest name in Nigerian track and field in recent years is at present, 33 years of age, meaning any attempt at a comeback, will be when she is already 43 years of age unless she appeals and wins at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), and she had been given 30 days to do so.
Irrespective of the outcome, the name of the athlete and the country is already tainted. Just like in the past, nearly all our biggest athletes on the world stage had at one point or more in their careers bagged a doping sentence for drug use. The list is endless and I bring to you some of our big-name stars that ended on the black books of World Athletics.
Folashade Abugan:
Nigeria’s Folashade Abugan was stripped of her two Commonwealth Games silver medals at the 2010 edition in Delhi, India after failing a drugs test.
Abugan became the third Nigerian to fail a drugs test at the Delhi event after the 110m hurdler Samuel Okon and Damola Osayemi, who claimed gold in the women’s 100m, both of whom tested positive for the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine.
Folashade Abugan was banned for two years.
Chioma Ajunwa:
Chioma Ajunwa, who played football for Nigeria at the FIFA Women World Cup in 1991 and also competed in track and field, was banned from the sport for four years after failing a drug test in 1992 despite maintaining her innocence.
She bounced back to win an Olympic gold medal in the long jump at the Atlanta’96 games, a silver in the same long jump at the World Indoor Championships in 1997 but was soon caught again for doping a 2nd time and was banned for life.
Innocent Asonze
Innocent Asonze was a former sprinter for Nigeria. Together with Francis Obikwelu, Daniel Effiong and Deji Aliu, he won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1999 World Championships in athletics, but the team was later disqualified (in August 2005) because he failed a doping test in June 1999.
Vivian Chukwuemeka:
She was a Nigerian shot putter and two-time Olympian. She won the gold medal in the shot put at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and won three consecutive titles at the All-Africa Games from 1999 to 2007. She was the African Champion in the event in 2002, 2006 and 2008.
She received a two-year ban from athletics for a failed drug test at the 2009 Nigerian Championships. Chukwuemeka had an intense stand-off with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria. Her “B” sample had several clerical errors, including inconsistencies in bottle numbers and the meeting at which the sample was taken and she was refused permission to have a representative present at the second testing in South Africa. She accused Nigerian doping officers of corruption and sexual harassment, as well as accusing the federation president Solomon Ogba of coercing Amaka Ogoegbunam to implicate her in drug distribution. Her claims were dismissed by the appeals panel and her two-year ban from the IAAF remained.
Chukwuemeka returned to competition in 2012 and failed a second drugs test – for the anabolic steroid stanozolol – shortly before the Olympic Games. Subsequently, she was given a lifetime ban from competition.
Olutoyin Augustus
Olutoyin “Toyin” Augustus was a Nigerian hurdler who competed in the 100 metres hurdles.
At the 2009 Berlin World Championships, Augustus was subject to a blood and urine test for the WADA. Her blood sample had no documented negative findings, but her urine sample tested positive for abnormally high levels of testosterone. The IAAF Doctor’s opinion stated that “This finding could be compatible with an administration of testosterone and/or related prohormones…”
A series of examinations and tests conducted by an MD specialist in gynaecology and reproductive endocrinology at the USC (University of Southern California) Medical Hospital found that Augustus had multiple ovarian cysts which the doctor linked to a disorder called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS.
PCOS is a metabolic dysfunction causing hormonal disruptions and elevated DHEA, a precursor hormone to other reproductive hormones such as testosterone.
To contest the positive doping test and defend her case, Augustus (a United States resident) was required to attend the B sample testing conducted in Germany. If the B sample was also positive, she would then have to fly to Nigeria to present her case to a committee appointed by her country’s athletic federation. This committee would be the ruling body on her case. Although the doctor at USC concluded that the PCOS disorder caused the elevated DHEA levels in Augustus’ urine sample, these findings were rejected by the Nigerian committee.
Augustus was ordered to serve the two-year mandatory ban from IAAF sanctioned athletics competitions.
Augustus’ case was under review for several months, coming to a close in 2010. During this period Augustus continued to compete internationally but withdrew from a competition in Belgium after notification that her case was rejected. Her ban was extended until February 2012 after it was discovered that she had competed while ineligible.
Samson Idiata
He is a Nigerian high jumper and long jumper. He took the bronze medal at the 2003 All-Africa Games.
He was the gold medallist in the long jump at the 2015 African Games but was stripped of this title after failing a drug test for clenbuterol. He was banned for four years, until 15 September 2019.
To be continued …
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM RULERS’ WORLD
“We had some really good, quality time there,” Jeff Bezos said of travelling outside of Earth with his brother Mark. Drug Cheats: Okagbare is Not Alone Drug Cheats: Okagbare is Not Alone Drug Cheats: Okagbare is Not Alone Drug Cheats: Okagbare is Not Alone
