Nigeria’s women’s relay team have been stripped of the gold medals won at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games for breaching doping rules.
The quartet of Tobi Amusan, Davour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuka, and Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha, who beat England’s relay sprinters in the 4x100m relay will now forfeit their gold medals and which will now be awarded to the English athletes after Nwokocha returned an adverse finding in her sample for two banned anabolic agents.
A statement by the Commonwealth Games Federation, on Friday, confirmed the quartet of Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Bianca Williams and Daryll Neita who came second behind Team Nigeria by 0.21 seconds at Alexander Stadium on August 7, 2022, as the rightful winners of the relay.
Subsequently, Nwokocha has also been disqualified from her singles results in the Women’s 100m, and 200m categories and the results updated.
Before the disqualification, the 21-year-old Nigerian was suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit in September 2022 for the use of banned substances.
Confirming the latest development, the Commonwealth Games Federation announced the court’s decision “regarding an in-competition sample provided by Ms Nwokocha, who competed in Athletics at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.”
The court revealed that the sample returned an “Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for Ostarine and Dihydroxy-LGD-4033, a metabolite of Ligandrol. Both are non-Specified Substances, listed under Other Anabolic Agents in the WADA 2022 Prohibited List.
“On 17 May 2023, The Federation Court issued a decision that Ms Nwokocha had committed the following Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) under the 2022 Commonwealth Games Anti-Doping Rules (ADRs):
“Accordingly, the Federation Court disqualified Ms Nwokocha’s results from the following events, with all resulting consequences, including forfeiture of any points and prizes:
Athletics – Women’s 100m
Athletics – Women’s 200m
Athletics – Women’s 4x100m Relay, including the team’s forfeiture of the gold medal
“The matter has now been passed to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) to determine any further consequences under their anti-doping rules.
“All results will be amended accordingly, including the Women’s 4x100m Relay medal placings as follows:
“England shall now be 1st place and awarded the gold medal
Jamaica shall now be 2nd place and awarded the silver medal
Australia shall now be 3rd place awarded the bronze medal
“This has been communicated to the relevant Commonwealth Games Associations who are liaising with the impacted athletes.
“The CGF has a zero-tolerance policy to doping in sport. It seeks to maintain the integrity of the Commonwealth Games by running a comprehensive anti-doping programme that focuses equally on education, prevention and testing.”
