Sports
10 Nigerian athletes among 20 disqualified from Tokyo Olympic track
Twenty athletes, including 10 from Nigeria, will not be allowed to participate in track and field at the Olympics because they did not meet anti-doping testing requirements in the lead-up to the Games.
The Athletics Integrity Unit, which runs the anti-doping program for the sport, requires athletes from countries categorized as “high risk” because of deficiencies in their testing programs to be given three no-notice, out-of-competition tests in the 10 months leading to a major event.
Each of the seven so-called “Category A” countries had at least one athlete banned from the Games.
The countries are Belarus, Bahrain, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Ukraine.
“Nigeria is the most affected country, not meeting the minimum testing requirements under Rule 15 for 10 athletes,” the AIU statement said.
Read Also: Olympic chief, Gumel, urges Team Nigeria to win ‘clean medals’ in Tokyo
AIU does not release the names of the banned athletes, but the list of all Nigerian athletes in the athletics event can be found here.
Recall that Kenya had previously announced that two of its runners, who are among the 20 mentioned in the AIU release, did not meet the qualifications.
Their removal made room on the squad for 1,500-meter world champion Timothy Cheruiyot, who has the world’s best time this year but surprisingly finished fourth at the country’s Olympic trials.
AIU chair David Howman said there have been improvements in the “Category A” countries’ testing programs “but there remains a long way to go in some circumstances.”
Meanwhile, Team Nigeria are yet to win a medal from the rescheduled Games in the Japanese capital, with many believing that the team stand better chances in track and field.
Below is the list of athletes earlier billed to represent Nigeria in track and field:
Enoch Adegoke
Chukwuebuka Enekwechi
Divine Oduduru
Usheoritse Itsekiri
Samson Nathaniel
Chidi Okezie
Tobi Amusan
Ese Brume
Blessing Okagbare
Favour Ofili
Rosemary Chukwuma
Patience Okon-George
Ruth Usoro
Grace Nwokocha
Glory Patrick
Knowledge Omovoh
Nse Imaobong Uko
Chioma Onyekwere
Annette Echikunwoke
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...