Blessing Okagbare’s Ban Extended To 11 years
The 10-year ban placed on Nigeria’s 2008 long jump silver medalist, Blessing Okagbare has been extended to 11 years by the Athletics Integrity Unit. In February 2022, a 10-year-ban was handed down to Okagbare by the body after she was found guilty of doping. In a document released on Monday, June 27, the AIU added one additional year to Okagbare’s ban after she allegedly failed to respond to the charges by the extended deadline -June 21, 2022. According to the document, the 33-year-old athlete is meant to have admitted the anti-doping rule violations (under Rule 2.3 and Rule 2.5 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules) and to have accepted the consequences. The 33-year-old, who is also a sprinter, was expelled from the Tokyo Olympics last year before the women’s 100m semi-finals after testing positive for human growth hormone at an out-of-competition test in Slovakia on July 19. In February 2022, the Disciplinary Tribunal banned Okagbare for 10 years, consecutive five-year bans for th...