IBADAN, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has announced the provisional suspension of Nigerian sprinter, Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha over the use of banned substances.
The 21-year-old sprinter ran the anchor leg in Birmingham last month as Nigeria beat England and Jamaica to take gold.
She was part of the winning quartet of Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, and Rose Chukwuma who won gold in the 4x100m relay at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The quartet had set a new African Record of 42.10s to win what was Nigeria’s 11th gold medal in Birmingham and it was a historic moment for the country at the Games.
The multiple-time national champion over 100 metres, has a personal best time in the 100m of 10.97 seconds set at the last World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA. She also ran a personal best of 22.44s in the 200m.
“The AIU has provisionally suspended Nigerian runner, Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha, for the Presence/Use of Prohibited Substances (Ostarine & Ligandrol) (Article 2.1 and Article 2.2),” the body said in a statement on Twitter.
Ostarine and Ligandrol are both anabolic agents prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
A provisional suspension means an athlete is temporarily banned from competition before a final decision is taken at a hearing conducted under WADA rules.
Nwokocha qualified for last year’s Tokyo Olympics and also entered the 100m and 200m at the world championships in Eugene this year, reaching the semi-finals in both events.
While the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has said it would be investigating the Nwokocha doping saga, it was gathered that the sprinter’s training mate in the United States is also in the doping dragnet.
Back-to-back NCAA champion Randolph Ross and Nwokocha used to share the same coach Duane Ross.
Randolph was sent packing from the World Athletics Championships held in Oregon on the eve of his 400-meter preliminary race, about a month after officials could not locate him to take an anti-doping test.
Before this latest setback, Blessing Okagbare was the last Nigerian athlete to be provisionally suspended before a 10-year ban was later slammed on her for multiple doping infractions and failure to corporate with investigators.
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Wow! Depending on when that bam would take effect, we should just prepare ourselves for losing that Commonwealth 4x100m women gold and the African record. O ma Se o!