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Tag: doping

  • Six Nigerian athletes charged for doping

    Six Nigerian athletes charged for doping

    1. Chioma Ajunwa

    Ajunwa competed in track and field events and focused on the 100m, 200m and long jump. At Atlanta 1996, Ajunwa became the first woman from West Africa to win an Olympic gold medal.

    However Ajunwa failed a drug test in 1992, which resulted in a four-year athletics ban and kept her away from participating in any athletics tournament.

    2. Mary Onyali

    Mary Onyali appeared five times in Olympic tournaments from 1988 – 2004.

    At the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, she earned bronze medals in the 200m and the 4⨉100m relay, respectively.

    In 1996, Mary was banned from athletics for reportedly taking ephedrine which she has denied to date.

    3. Cecilia Francis

    Cecilia Francis excels in the track and field event, participating in 100m, 200m, and 4 x 100-meter relay.

    At the 2015 All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo, Cecilia won gold in the 4 x 100-meter relay alongside Blessing Okagbare, Lawretta Ozoh, and Ngozi Onwumere.

    As a 16-year-old at the 2013 African Youth Athletics Championships, Francis tested positive for the anabolic steroid methenolone.

    She was barred from participating in sports for a year after helping the police with their inquiry.

    Her coach Abass Rauf received a lifetime ban from the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, while Lee Evans received a four-year suspension.

    4. Blessing Okagbare

    Former Nigerian track and field athlete Blessing Okagbare is a specialist in the long jump and sprints.

    The women’s 100-meter Commonwealth Games record belongs to Okagbare, who ran it in 10.85 seconds.

    She won medals in the long jump at the Olympic and World Championships, and she also won a world medal in the 200 meters.

    On July 31, 2021, during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Okagbare failed a drug test and was thus suspended.

    She was given a 10-year athletics ban which started on 30 July 2021 as a result of many violations of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Code.

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    5. Charity Opara

    Ex-Nigerian athlete Charity Opara was well-known as a specialist in the 400-meter event.

    She excelled in relay competition, taking home the silver medal representing Nigeria at the 1996 Olympics.

    Opara was banned from participating in any athletics event between 1992 and 1996 after testing positive in a drug test.

    6. Tosin Adeloye

    Tosin Adeloye competed in the 400-meter race at the 2015 World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China.

    Adeloye tested positive for the anabolic steroid Methenolone at the National Sports Festival in Lagos in December 2012, at the age of 16, She was subsequently banned from participating in any athletics event for two years and with her ban ending on 6 January 2015.

    Tosin later failed another drug test again in 2016 which led to her second ban and was given eight years away from any athletics tournament.

  • Ekiru: Kenyan marathon runner banned 10-year for doping

    Ekiru: Kenyan marathon runner banned 10-year for doping

    Kenyan marathon runner Titus Ekiru has been slapped with a 10-year ban for doping and trying to obstruct the investigation, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said yesterday.

    The 31-year-old tested positive for prohibited substances after winning the Milan marathon in May 2021 and the Abu Dhabi event in November that year, it said in a statement.

    Kenya has seen a surge in doping cases which have stained the reputation of the athletics powerhouse. Almost 70 athletes – mainly distance runners – have been banned in the last five years.

    In addition to the ban, the AIU said Ekiru’s results including and since the Milan race have been disqualified and all prizes forfeited.

    His victory in Milan, in the exceptionally fast time of 2hr 2min 57sec, had made him the sixth fastest marathon runner of all-time but he has now been stripped of that accolade.

    The ban follows a “comprehensive investigation” which revealed tampering by Ekiru to obstruct the AIU probe, and collusion by a senior doctor at a Kenyan hospital, the agency said.

    “Initially, Ekiru signalled his intention to contest the charges. However, faced with substantial evidence against him, the Kenyan athlete decided that he no longer wanted to pursue the case,” it added.

    Ekiru had tested positive for triamcinolone acetonide after winning in Milan and for pethidine after his victory in Abu Dhabi.

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    Ekiru, who was provisionally suspended in June last year, had claimed the outcome resulted from legitimate medical treatment for injuries.

    But the probe found that a senior doctor had colluded with Ekiru and that hospital documents provided to the AIU to explain the presence of prohibited substances were forged.

    The body has called for the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) to refer the doctor to the criminal authorities in Kenya for further investigation.

    “For athletes involved in doping and the entourage who assist them, there is one strong message from this case -– there is nowhere to hide,” AIU chair David Howman said.

    Ekiru’s ban dates from his provisional suspension and will run until June 2032.