Nigerian sprinter, Blessing Okagbare has been charged after testing positive for human growth hormone and erythropoietin (EPO), offences that forced her to pull out of Tokyo Olympics, the Athletics Integrity Unit said on Thursday.
Okagbare, a former Commonwealth Games gold medallist, won her first-round heat of the women’s 100 metres in Tokyo before being forced to withdraw when her test results were announced.
Read Also: Blessing Okagbare Suspended For Failing Drug Test, Out Of Tokyo 2020 Olympics
In latest development on Thursday, AIU revealed that Okagbare tested positive for blood booster EPO in Nigeria in June, in addition to another failed test for human growth hormone in Slovakia in July, which was announced during the Olympics.
Okagbare has also been charged with failing to cooperate with the investigation after she disobeyed an order to produce “documents, records and electronic storage devices” in relation to the other charges.
AIU in its statement said;
The athlete has been charged with the presence and use of a prohibited substance following of Human Growth Hormone in a sample collected out-of-competition on 19th July in Slovakia and reported to the AIU on 30th July.
It expressed Okagbare had also tested positive for the endurance-boosting drug EPO in a test in Nigeria on June 20.
Okagbare denies all the charges and has requested that each of them be submitted to a disciplinary hearing, the AIU said.
Via AFP.
