Great Britain sprinter Chijindu Ujah provisionally suspended after testing positive to two banned substances in Tokyo

Ed Chisholm

Great Britain sprinter Chijindu Ujah provisionally suspended after testing positive to two banned substances in Tokyo image

British Olympic sprinter Chijindu Ujah has been provisionally suspended under an anti‑doping rule violation after returning positive results relating to two banned substances.

The violation was confirmed by the Athletics Integrity Unit, which revealed a presence of prohibited substances Ostarine and S-23, which are selective androgen receptor modulators known to mimic testosterone.

Should Ujah's ban be upheld, it would see the entire Great Britain 4x100 Men's relay team stripped of their silver medals, tainting the team's 65-medal haul in Tokyo and marking arguably the largest Olympic doping scandal in British Olympic history.

While the 27-year-old faces the prospect of a four-year ban from competing.

The International Testing Agency later confirmed it'd collected the in-competition test following the 4x100m relay final.

"The result was reported by the WADA-accredited laboratory of Tokyo on 8 August 2021," the ITA said in a statement. "The athlete has the right to request the analysis of the B-sample.

"If requested by the athlete and if the B-sample analysis confirms the adverse analytical finding … the case will be referred to the anti-doping division of the court of arbitration for sport for adjudication.

"It will consider the matter of the finding of an anti-doping rule violation and the disqualification of the men's 4x100 relay results of the British team."

The Athletics Integrity Unit also confirmed Bahrain's 1500m runner Sadik Mikhou, Georgian shot-putter Benik Abramyan and Kenyan sprinter Mark Otieno Odhiambo had also been suspended.

Britain's Men's 4x100 relay team of Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake fell short of the gold medal by a hundredth of a second to winners Italy.

Ujah's impending ban will see Canada upgraded to the silver medal and China elevated to the bronze medal.

 

 

Ed Chisholm

Ed Chisholm Photo

Ed Chisholm is a content producer for Sporting News Australia.