Nigeria’s 2008 Olympics female long jump silver medalist, Blessing Okagbare, has disclosed plans to approach the Court of Arbitration for Sports and appeal the 10 years ban imposed on her by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) over doping violations.
Okagbare said that his legal team has commenced work on AIU’s declaration, to study the case and decide next legal actions that would be taken on the athletic body’s investigation and pronouncement.
The pronouncement of AIU was that the Nigerian sprinter was banned after investigations revealed that substances not approved by the global athletics body, International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were found in her blood strain at the Tokyo Olympics.
In a short statement released on her official social media handle, the Olympian assured Nigerians and thousands of her fans abroad that efforts were ongoing to ensure she returns to the tracks and compete with other athletes.
The statement released on Saturday, barely 24 hours after her ban, read: “My attention has been drawn to the statement issued by the AIU regarding its disciplinary panel decision. My lawyers are currently studying it for our next line of action which we will inform you soon.
Earlier, The Guild had reported a breakdown of the 10 years ban imposed on Okagbare showed that the athlete showed five years for the presence and use of multiple prohibited substances while the other five years stands for her refusal to co-operate with the AIU’s investigation team handling her case.
The ban imposed on the 33-year-old sprinter came months after she was expelled from the Tokyo Olympics after qualifying for the 100m women semi-finals due to the test conducted on her which came out positive.
Okagbare was said to have taken a human growth hormone at an out-of-competition test in Slovakia on July 19 and that the substance was still in her blood strain.
Through a statement released on the AIU website on Friday, the body noted that her actions during the doping investigations carried out by its arbitrator prevented AIU from being able to discover other athletes violating the rule
