AFN Expresses Shock Over Blessing Okagbare’s Doping Rule Violation

Blessing Okagbare

TheGuardian reports that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria has said it received with great shock the press release by the Athletics Integrity Unit suspending Blessing Okagbare for a doping rule violation.

The Federation, in a statement yesterday, said it is in the process of obtaining the relevant details of the announcement after which a full reaction would be issued.

The AIU in its statement said the Nigerian 100/200m record holder was provisionally suspended with immediate effect after a sample collected from the 32 year old tested positive for Human Growth Hormone.

Growth hormone is a non-specified substance on the 2021 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List and a provisional suspension is mandatory following an adverse analytical finding for such substance under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules.

The AIU said it collected the sample from Okagbare during an out-of-competition test on July 19 and revealed the WADA-accredited laboratory that analysed the sample notified the AIU of the adverse analytical finding at mid-day Central European Time on Friday.

The athlete was notified of the adverse analytical finding and of her provisional suspension yesterday morning in Tokyo. She was scheduled to take part in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m in Tokyo.