Blessing Okagbare

The 19-year-old rising star ran a season-best 11.09 in the preliminaries of the 100m and then came back to ruin 11.15 to finish third in the final that was won by the outstanding American Sha Carri Richardson, who clocked 10.77, her third time under 10.8 in as many races this season.

With tired legs, Williams then ran the 200m finishing eighth in 22.96 in the race won by American Gabby Thomas in 22.12, the second-fastest time in the world this year. Allyson Felix ran 22.26 for second place in her season-opener.

Afterwards, Williams let her fans know how she felt about the day’s work.

“What a great day. Feeling like myself again,” she posted on Facebook. “Coach challenged me to run three races in two hours and it went (mostly) well.

“100m heats - an easing-up 11.09 one of my fastest-ever times in just 100m race number two since 2019. 100m final - third place 11.15 into a headwind. 200m final - (22.96w and dead last no legs left ?) but the work was necessary after no indoor season and working around an early-year injury.”

Williams has had a limited number of outings this season. She opened up outdoors with an 11.28 100m at the USATF Grand Prix in Eugene, Oregon on April 24. On that occasion, she just missed out on advancing to the final of the 100m that was won by Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare in a season-best 10.97.

The identity of the individual has not been made public but the Athletics Integrity Unit is looking at the matter, according to The Times, which quotes court papers lodged in the Southern District of New York.

Lira is facing jail time after pleading guilty to supplying performance-enhancing drugs to Olympians and a submission said to have been made by attorney Damian Williams lists a competitor from the United Kingdom as ‘Athlete 3’ in the case.

Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare, who was banned from athletics last year after a positive test emerged during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, is understood to be ‘Athlete 1’, while another unnamed Swiss athlete is also referenced.

The letter from Williams to the sentencing judge, which has also been seen by the BBC, states: “Athlete 1 was not the only Olympic competitor who received PEDs (performance-enhancing drugs) from Lira.

“Lira separately met with a third Olympic athlete who competed on behalf of the United Kingdom (Athlete 3) multiple times in the summer of 2021 for the purpose of providing him with PEDs.

“In short, Lira travelled across the United States to deliver and/or administer various drugs to various Olympic athletes, all with the calculated aim of impacting the outcome of the Tokyo Olympics.”

Uk Athletics declined to comment and the PA news agency has approached the Athletic Integrity Unit for a response.

However, the American has withdrawn from the meet leaving the four-time world champion facing the likes of Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare and the USA’s Javianne Oliver, two women who have run below 11 seconds so far this year.

Both women have similar times of 10.97 so far this season.

In fact, in what must be a rare occurrence, in the field of eight women, the two-time Olympic gold medalist has run the slowest time this season, the 11.51 she ran in driving wind and rain at Gateshead four days ago.

Going into tomorrow’s race, Fraser-Pryce is not planning to take anyone for granted as she hunts her first 100m win of 2021 on the track where she won an unprecedented fourth 100m world title less than two years ago.

“I wouldn’t say I view a specific athlete as a threat. I have always said that whenever it is that you line up to compete in a 100m you have to be ready for anybody,” she said.

“I don’t spend my time focusing on any individual athlete. I know that at the end of the day an athlete is not standing at the line to shower me with flowers or escort me to the line. They’re there to compete and they’re there to compete aggressively.

“So for me, I am not paying attention to pay attention to an individual athlete. I am paying attention to my lane and paying attention to making sure that when I get in the blocks I’m ahead of everybody else. I know that every single female athlete that steps to the line, they’re ready.”

The 33-year-old sprinter was banned for 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 AIU said in a release on Friday.

According to the AIU, the sole arbitrator adjudicating the case concluded that the athlete’s use of multiple prohibited substances as part of an organized 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 recognized 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 AIU’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, the release said.

“We welcome the decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal; a ban of 10-year is a strong message against intentional and coordinated attempts to cheat at the very highest level of our sport. This is an outcome that was driven by our intelligence-led target testing as well as our commitment to investigate the circumstances behind a positive test,” said Brett Clothier, Head of the AIU.

On October 7, 2021, the AIU had pressed charges against Okagbare in relation to separate disciplinary matters.

First, for the presence and use of multiple (two) prohibited substances (human Growth Hormone (HGH) and recombinant erythropoietin (EPO)) for which Okagbare had been provisionally suspended on July 31, 2021, the day on which she had been scheduled to participate in the semi-finals of the Tokyo 2020 women’s 100m.

Subsequently, in accordance with Rule 12 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules, she was charged with a refusal to co-operate with the AIU’s investigation into her case. The athlete has the right to appeal against the Disciplinary Tribunal’s decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 30-days.

The Athletics Integrity Unit said Okagbare tested positive in an out-of-competition test on July 19. The AIU says it was only informed of the finding on Friday, after Okagbare had already run in the 100-meter heats at the Tokyo Games.

The AIU informed Okagbare of the finding and her provisional suspension on Saturday morning.

Okagbare won her heat in 11.05 seconds at the Olympic Stadium to progress to the semis.

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."

The Nigerian sprinter came through Friday's heats in a time of 11.05 seconds and was due to go up against Dina Asher-Smith and Elaine Thompson-Herah in the semi-finals on Saturday.

However, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) informed Okagbare she had tested positive for a human growth hormone following an out-of-competition test on July 19.

The AIU added that a provisional suspension is mandatory for an adverse analytical finding for such a substance under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules.

It said no further comment would be made at this stage.

Okagbare was competing in her fourth Games and won a silver medal in the long jump at Beijing in 2008.

She was a strong medal hope and her provisional suspension follows the news 10 Nigerian athletes were declared ineligible for Tokyo 2020 due to non-compliance with out-of-competition drug testing requirements in the run-up to the Games.