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.
The last time the event was staged in the UK was in London in 2017, while Glasgow hosted the World Indoor Championships at the weekend.
Now Buckner has told BBC Sport that UK Sport and UK Athletics are conducting a feasibility study into launching a bid to stage the 2029 event.
“We’d love to have another crack at 2029 and a World Championships,” said Buckner.
“We just do a great job. Everyone talks about the atmosphere at every event we’ve done.
“We first of all have to do a feasibility study and look at what the various options are.”
Buckner indicated that London would be the favoured venue for the event, in light of the successful staging of both the 2017 event and the 2012 Olympics.
“We can’t definitely say it’ll be London, but it would be in our mind given the success of it before,” Buckner added.
“I think London (2017) was transformational and it built off 2012 (the Olympic Games). It was transformational in all sorts of ways.”
The 58-year-old, who was Paralympic head coach for 10 years before taking the role of team leader for major athletics championships in 2022, will lead the Performance programme through next year’s Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games.
“I’m looking forward to working with the performance staff and athletes once more at this incredibly important time for the GB and NI team,” Dunn said.
“The results from Paris (World Para Athletics Championships) and Budapest (World Championships) this summer were excellent, and I want to ensure we keep providing world-class support in the approach to Paris and help every athlete perform at their very best.
“There isn’t a moment to lose, and I am excited to rejoin UKA and help the team to succeed.”
UKA chief executive Jack Buckner said: “Paula has a huge amount of experience in leading athletics and her track record in performance means she is the best person to oversee the Performance programme towards Paris.
“2024 is a very important year for the sport with a home World Indoor Championships, a Para World Championships, European Championships as well as the Olympics and Paralympics.
“She is coming in at a critical time for the performance team, but her knowledge and experience will make a huge impact.”
UKA announced on Tuesday that Maguire was leaving his position as technical director with immediate effect, less than two months after overseeing a very successful World Championships in Budapest, with the British team equalling their best ever medal haul of 10.
Sprinter Dina Asher-Smith labelled the “snap decision” as “incredibly short-sighted” on Instagram and called for an explanation from UKA.
The 27-year-old will not race in the 4×100 metres in Budapest after pulling out on the eve of the World Championships this week.
Prescod claims he was told his reputation would suffer if he walked out of the squad but feels he had no option after suffering a hip injury in relay training three weeks ago.
The 2018 100m European silver medallist also revealed he was told he would not be part of the relay set-up in January, only to get a call asking him to return in July.
“The dust needs to settle for a little bit because some of the conversations that I had weren’t necessarily the most pleasant conversations,” he said, after qualifying for Sunday’s 100m semi-final in 10.14 seconds.
“They weren’t very nice and I was a bit upset about some of the conversations. It just wasn’t a nice environment to be in. I had a few different meetings on occasions and it kind of felt a little bit like emotional blackmail a little bit.
“I was kind of like ‘I don’t want to let down the country’ and they (UKA) were like ‘you know your reputation is going to be ruined if you do this.’
“It’s been quite hard, dealing with all the press and all the negativity. I’ve felt quite isolated at these championships if I’m being honest. I’ve felt quite distant from the team.
“But I’ve just had to say ‘you know what Reece, just get as far as you can in these championships and afterwards sit down with (Stephen) Maguire (technical director).'”
Prescod helped Great Britain to world 4x100m bronze in Eugene last year, just his second major senior medal.
He added: “There was a lot of pressure from the federation. It’s not that I didn’t want to be part of the team. I love the boys but I didn’t want to risk hurting myself.
“If I hurt myself in an exchange three weeks ago, for me to do exactly the same thing might potentially compromise running around the bend. So that was the kind of moral of the whole story.
(It’s come from the) hierarchy, if I am being honest. The other athletes are very supportive.”
Zharnel Hughes, Jona Efoloko, Adam Gemili, Jeremiah Azu and Eugene Amo-Dadzie remain part of the squad. British Athletics declined to comment.
The Great Britain sprinter, who won 100m bronze at the World Championships last year, believes the governing body has no choice but to battle on.
Technical director Stephen Maguire’s sudden departure in October – after a record-equalling medal haul of 10 at the World Championships – was followed by the announcement of a £3.7million loss in December.
But Hughes, who has been training at his base in Jamaica, remains focused on his own work ahead of the Paris Games.
“They have to get themselves sorted out because they have major championships coming up,” he said, with Paula Dunn in interim charge through the Olympics.
“I hope everything will be ironed out by the time the championships come around and everything will be running smoothly for the athletes to be in the best place mentally to give our best performances.
“I hope they get their stuff sorted out. I see it, I read it but I keep my head down and keep moving.
“It did surprise me (Maguire’s departure). We had just come out of Budapest and, shortly after, it happened. ‘OK, what happened there?’ I just left it alone, no-one said anything to me.
“I’m pretty sure they’re aware it doesn’t have much to do with me. It’s not like I’m writing the cheques or anything.”
The 28-year-old is focused on this year’s outdoor season after opting to skip the indoor competitions, including the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March.
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Last year he claimed his first individual world medal, finishing third in the 100m in Budapest having broken the 100m and 200m British records.
He ran 9.83 seconds in New York in June – smashing Linford Christie’s 30-year 100m mark – before running 19.73 seconds in the 200m in London a few weeks later.
Hughes had written down 9.83 seconds in his diary before running the time and has already scribbled his goals down for this year.
“I’ve written down my times and what I want to accomplish. I’ve even said I want to break the British record again,” he said, ahead of defending his 200m European title in Rome in June.
“I want to medal in the European Championships and Olympics and want to get to the Diamond League final and see what I can do.
“Plans have been written down long before any New Year resolutions. I wrote them down in the first week of training.”
Zharnel Hughes is an ambassador for Vita Coco, for updates and information on the partnership visit: www.vitacoco.co.uk
