(Reuters) -British sprinter Chijindu Ujah has been banned for 22 months for a doping violation at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Monday.
Ujah had been provisionally suspended after Ostarine and S-23 — substances prohibited by world anti-doping organisation WADA — were detected in his A and B samples following the men’s 4x100m relay final in which Britain finished second behind Italy.
The AIU, which oversees integrity issues in international athletics including doping, said Ujah’s ban was effective Aug. 6 2021 and will be in force until June 5, 2023.
Ujah, 28, and his team mates Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake were stripped of their silver medal in February after a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling. Canada were upgraded to silver and China to bronze.
The sprinter had said he had “not knowingly or intentionally doped” but Kilty said in February British Athletics and UK Anti-Doping had “hammered home” their rules, asking athletes not to use uncertified supplements.
UKAD said in a statement that the AIU announcement marked another sad chapter in the case and for sport in Britain.
“Every national governing body, athlete, coach and member of support staff should take this case as a warning that doping presents a threat to British sport at the highest levels,” said UKAD Chief Executive Jane Rumble.
“This case underlines the need for all sports to redouble their commitment to their anti-doping responsibilities.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond and Christian Radnedge)
