By Uzor Odigbo
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) says 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 says it is in the process of obtaining the relevant details of the announcement after which a full reaction will be issued.
The AIU in the press release says the Nigerian 100/200m record holder has been 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 says it collected the sample from Okagbare during an out-of-competition test on 19 July and revealed the WADA-accredited laboratory that analysed the sample notified the AIU of the adverse analytical finding at mid-day Central European Time yesterday, Friday 30 July.
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The athlete was notified of the adverse analytical finding and of her provisional suspension Saturday morning in Tokyo.
She was scheduled to participate in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m Saturday evening in Tokyo.
