Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria has been banned for ten years for doping offenses.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Friday that popular Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare has been banned for ten years for doping.

Last year, before the 100 meters semi-final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he was given a ten-year suspension.

Blessing Okagbare, 33, who won a silver medal in the long jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was given a five-year suspension for the presence of prohibited drugs and their usage, as well as a five-year suspension for refusing to cooperate with an AUI investigation, for a total of ten years.

The solitary arbitrator deciding the case ruled that Okagbare’s “usage of numerous banned drugs” was “part of a systematic doping routine in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games,” according to an AIU statement.

The standard four-year sentence was increased due to this “egregious behavior.”
We applaud the Disciplinary Tribunal’s judgment. “A ten-year suspension sends a strong message against deliberate and planned attempts to cheat at the top level of our sport,” AIU chief Brett Clothier said.

“Our intelligence-guided target testing, as well as our dedication to exploring the circumstances surrounding a positive test, contributed to this result.”

Okagbare was barred from the Tokyo Olympics after failing a drug test, according to the report. Six9ja.com