Nigerian sprinter Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha has been banned for three years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for the presence and use of two prohibited substances – ostarine and ligandrol.
The positive drugs test related to a sample taken during the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, when Nwokocha ran the anchor leg during the women’s 4×100 metres relay.
Nigeria crossed the line first in the race but after Nwokocha’s positive drugs test the team were stripped of the gold medals, with hosts England promoted into top spot.
At a hearing before the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Court in May, Nwokocha claimed the positive test had been caused by cross-contamination, claiming that an unnamed team-mate had drunken from her bottle of Lucozade during training at the Athletes Village.
This defence was rejected with the CGF Court finding her guilty of an anti-doping rule violation, and disqualifying her individual and team results at Birmingham 2022.
In July, Nwokocha agreed to enter a case resolution agreement with the AIU and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
In the agreement Nwokocha acknowledged she had committed anti-doping rule violations and agreed to a three-year suspension.
The start of her ban has been backdated to August 3 2022, the date the positive sample was collected, and will run through to August 2 2025.
Following the decision against Nwokocha, her team-mates in the women’s 4×100 meters relay final Joy Udo-Gabriel, Favour Ofili and Rosemary Chukwuma have also forfeited their medals from the race.
Nwokocha competed in the women’s 100 metres at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she reached the semi-finals.
She is also a multiple national champion, winning the 200m in 2021, and the 100m and 4x100m relay in 2022.
Leave a comment