Blessing Okagbare has been handed a 10-year ban for breaching doping regulations, while Great Britain have lost Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medals after CJ Ujah tested positive for a banned substance.
Nigerian track and field athlete Okagbare, who specialises in long jump and short sprints, is an Olympic and World Championship medallist, including silver in Beijing in 2008.
The 33-year-old also won her heat at the Tokyo Olympics in the women's 100m, but a positive test for a human growth hormone in July ruled her out of the semi-finals at the Games.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has now acted by banning Okagbare for 10 years after positive tests for multiple substances and failure to cooperate with investigations.
An AIU statement on Friday read: "The Disciplinary Tribunal has banned Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare for a total of 10 years, five years for the presence and use of multiple prohibited substances and five years for her refusal to co-operate with the AIU's investigation into her case.
"The sole arbitrator adjudicating the case concluded that the athlete's use of multiple prohibited substances as part of an organised doping regimen in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympic Games was egregious conduct that amounted to aggravating circumstances under the Rules thereby warranting an additional period of ineligibility on top of the standard four-year sanction.
"The sole arbitrator also recognised the AIU's right to carry out investigations, including the imaging of electronic devices, and to impose sanctions when an athlete refuses to co-operate with an investigation and thereby frustrates the AI's ability to fulfil its mandate to protect the integrity of the sport of athletics.
"In this instance, the sole arbitrator concluded that the athlete's refusal to cooperate had denied the AIU the opportunity to discover evidence of possible further rule violations by her as well possible violations of the rules by others, for which he imposed an additional sanction of five years."
Head of the AIU Brett Clothier added: "We welcome the decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal; a ban of 10-years is a strong message against intentional and coordinated attempts to cheat at the very highest level of our sport."
On the same day, Great Britain were stripped of their silver medal in the men's 4x100m relay at the 2020 Games after Ujah's drug test returned traces of ostarine and S-23 – both banned substances.
Ujah raced in the first leg of the sprint relay as Great Britain, with a team also including Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, edged out Italy for second on the podium.
The Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ADD) stated that Ujah had "not knowingly or intentionally doped, suggesting that the source of the prohibited substances could have been the ingestion of a contaminated supplement."
The statement added: "The CAS ADD sole arbitrator issued the present decision in which she determined, to her comfortable satisfaction, that an anti-doping rule violation had been committed."
The CAS ADD said that it has requested World Athletics to consider further action against Ujah within their jurisdiction, including on whether a ban may be imposed.
Ujah reiterated in his statement that he had not knowingly "consumed a contaminated supplement and this was the reason why an anti-doping rule violation occurred at the Tokyo Olympic Games."
In his statement, he continued: "I sincerely regret that this has inadvertently led to the forfeiture of the men's 4x100m relay team's Olympic silver medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
"I would like to apologise to my teammates, their families and support teams for the impact which this has had on them.
"I'm sorry that this situation has cost my teammates the medals they worked so hard and so long for, and which they richly deserved. That is something I will regret for the rest of my life."
He added that representing Team GB "surpassed my childhood ambitions and I will forever be devastated that this situation has marred the success achieved" in Tokyo.
"I would also like to apologise to both British Athletics and Team GB. British Athletics has supported the relay athletes for years and this has been difficult for everyone involved in the programme."
Biles ends Paris Olympics with floor silver after falling off beam
Simone Biles capped her trip to the 2024 Olympic Games with a silver medal in Monday's floor final, having earlier missed out on the podium in the balance beam event.
Rebeca Andrade edged out the Team USA star to win her first gold of the Paris Games, having earlier claimed silver in the all-around and vault events and helped Brazil take bronze in the team event.
Biles' compatriot Jordan Chiles took bronze following a successful appeal to her score, bumping Romania's Ana Barbosu down to fourth.
Biles had earlier finished outside the medal places for the first time at the 2024 Games in the beam event, a fall costing her as Italy's Alice d'Amato took gold.
Having earlier won gold in the team, all-around and vault events, Biles placed fifth after falling off the beam at the end of Monday's final.
Biles appeared to express frustration with the crowd after her routine, holding her finger to her ear to question why most of those present had been silent.
Biles' overall medal haul at the Games now stands at 11 – seven gold, two silver and two bronze.
Larisa Latynina, who won 18 medals for the Soviet Union, is the most successful female gymnast in Olympic history.
Wightman expects big things at Paris Olympics amid Team GB 'golden era'
Jake Wightman believes Team GB athletics are enjoying a 'golden era' and could record one of their best medal hauls at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Wightman won 1,500m gold at the 2022 World Championships, the first global gold won by a Brit in a middle-distance event since Sebastian Coe's 1,500m gold at the 1984 Olympics.
The Scot has been tipped to compete for a medal in the French capital, having also taken bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and silver at the European Championships that same year.
With Team GB looking to better their total of five athletics medals from the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, Wightman thinks an impressive haul could be on the cards.
"I think collectively it should be one of the best games we could have in athletics. I think it's a bit of a golden era at the moment," he told Stats Perform.
"A lot of people are shaping up to give the best performance they'll ever have. Sadly, the state of global athletics is that it's probably in a bit of a golden era as well.
"Every event has some pretty tough competitors to beat, but if you look at all the British athletes that could medal, then you could end up with a huge tally, not just of medals, but of golds."
Wightman finished 10th in the 1,500m final in Tokyo three years ago, when crowds were limited to fellow athletes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He is excited to soak up a different type of atmosphere this time around, adding: "The fact that the last one was Tokyo meant people were going to be watching it in the early hours, so it probably didn't get the reach from home that it could have.
"Whereas this one, an hour's difference, there's no excuse for the British population to get behind it and to support our athletes.
"Personally, it's a chance for me to go out there and try and see what I can do. Once you get to a final, who knows what you could do from there. So for me, it's just taking it each day at a time."
Wightman's father Geoff was also an endurance runner, representing England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland.
Having moved into television since his retirement, he was also on commentary duties when his son triumphed at the World Championships, a moment Wightman remembers fondly.
"It's pretty unique within sport that your dad is the one that's commentating. He's done it for a very long time," he said.
"For me to win a global title with him on the mic was probably the dream scenario for him. It was a special moment."
UK Athletics bans transgender women from competing in female category
UK Athletics has banned transgender women from competing in the female categories of their United Kingdom competitions and events.
The ban comes a week after World Athletics announced their own outlawing of male-to-female transgender competitors who have been through male puberty competing in women's elite events.
The move received support from former Olympians such as swimmer Sharron Davies and decathlon great Daley Thompson, though it also came under fire from some LGBTQ+ campaign groups.
Both bans will come into force from March 31.
"UK Athletics notes the revised World Athletics Eligibility Regulations for Transgender Athletes released on 23 March 2023 and coming into effect on 31 March 2023," a statement read.
"It is fair for athletes who have gone through male puberty to be excluded from the female category in Athletics.
"UK Athletics acknowledges and appreciates the efforts made by World Athletics to protect the female category in Athletics.
"From midnight on 31 March 2023, UK Athletics applies the World Athletics Transgender Regulations to all athletics competitions and events in the United Kingdom where the licence for the competition or event is granted by UK Athletics."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
