Nigerian track and field athlete Blessing Okagbari has been suspended from 10 to 11 years for a new element in her doping case, the International Athletics Federation’s (IAAF) Integrity Panel announced Tuesday.
The dossier of the Nigerian high jump silver medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics has been getting more complicated month by month after she was temporarily suspended during the Tokyo Olympics last summer ahead of the 100m semi-final in July. February 31, 2021, as a result of the appearance of human growth hormone in the test she passed. His 19th place out of competition.
In early October 2021, a 33-year-old Nigerian woman was tested again after it was found that she had taken the banned substance erythropoietin, and then in February last year she was banned for 10 years due to “repeated use of prohibited substances “. products”, as well as because of her “refusal to cooperate” with the investigation.
This time, the Nigerian was charged with doping a drug test on June 13, 2021 in Jacksonville, USA (Florida), six days before she and her fellow 100m relay team qualified for next month’s 4 x 100m relay team. world in Eugene, USA, winning the Nigerian Championship.
The Athletics Integrity Unit has made the decision to void all results he has achieved as of June 13, 2021, including, of course, his qualifications and the Eugene World Cup 4x100m relay team.
Okagbari is also at the center of a US investigation against Dr. Eric Lear, the first defendant in the “Rodchenkov Act,” which allows US justice to prosecute and impose jail terms of up to 10 years and fines of up to a million. dollars in relation to persons involved in systematic international activities, regardless of their nationality.
Lira was accused of buying performance-enhancing products such as growth hormone and “erythropoietin” and gave them to two athletes as part of a doping program in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The Americans named the criminal prosecution law the “Rodchenkov Law” after the head of the Russian laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov, who is accused of being involved in Russia’s comprehensive state doping system, exposed in 2015, which led to the exclusion of Russians from participation in competitions. in international events.
