Doping: Blessing Okagbare Accepts 10-Year Ban

Former Nigerian track and field athlete, Blessing Okagbare has assumably accepted a 10-year ban slammed on her by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) Disciplinary Tribunal.

Recall that the 33-year-old sprinter was handed the ban in mid-February 2022 for allegedly breaching multiple anti-doping rules.

Nigeria’s 2008 long jump silver medalist due to the development, got expelled from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before the women’s 100m semi-finals after she was confirmed positive for human growth hormone at an out-of-competition test in Slovakia on July 19.

Okagbare had earlier denied taking the said prohibited substances by injection or any means.

She pointed to her long history of ‘negative’ tests, including 10 of the 12 she underwent between 16 April 2021 and 30 July 2021.

The Athlete according to reports, has refused to cooperate with the AIU’s investigation into her case despite her threat to take up her right to appeal against the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 30 days, which elapsed on March 18, 2022.

In that regard, CAS in a statement released on Monday confirmed that the former Commonwealth Games double sprint champion did not file any appeal upon enquiry.