Amusan, Ofili Others to lose Commonwealth Games gold medal over doping
Nigeria is on the verge of losing one of the gold medals won at the recently held Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
The gold medal won in the 4x100m Women’s event is now under threat after the failed dope test of one of the athletes in the winning quartet of Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, Rose Chukwuma and Grace Nwokocha.
The quartet had set a new African Record of 42.10s to win what was Nigeria’s 11th gold medal in Birmingham and it was a historic moment for the country at the Games.
However, with the latest developments, the fanfare and excitement that came with that gold medal and the African record will end in futility owing to the doping rules.
The doping rule nullifies any performance in its entirety, even if just a member of the team is guilty of the doping infraction.
The fact that it is only the relay gold that Nigeria risks losing suggests the culprit is not Tobi Amusan who also won the 100m Women’s hurdles gold.
Though the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN is yet to make a public statement on the identity of the erring athlete, an official in the AFN board confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES how devastated they are by the sad turn of events.
“I cannot talk to you yet on the issue. Just wait for the official statement that would be released, but this is very sad. Just when we thought we were making some headway, this has really brought us back,” PREMIUM TIMES quoted an AFN official as saying.
The Athletics Integrity Unit, the body in charge of global doping cases, is also yet to make a public statement on the matter since the result of the ‘B’ sample, which is often the same as ‘A’ is still being awaited.
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