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Should the Commonwealth Federation have taken action on Grace Nwokocha by stripping Nigeria of the 4x100m gold medal won at the 2022 Commonwealth Games without the Athletics Integrity Unit? This article explains it all.
The news of the Commonwealth Federation stripping Nigeria of the women's 4x100m relay gold medal won at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham has become a thing of controversy.
In Birmingham, Grace Nwokocha's urine sample tested positive for banned substances Ostarine and Ligandrol shortly after the games, which led to her being provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
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Since then, the Commonwealth Games Federation have been on the case and after concluding its investigation, they've awarded England the women's 4x100m gold medal, even though the AIU has not passed its verdict on the Nigerian sprinter.
Nigeria's quartet of Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma, and Nwokocha beat England by 0.21 seconds at the Alexander Stadium on August 7, 2022, running an African Record (AR) of 42.10s.
This sad development means the remaining trio will also forfeit their medals, and the AR no longer stands.
In a statement released by the Commonwealth Federation, it read that Nwokocha's performances in the 100m and 200m at the games are also no longer valid.
“The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) can confirm that the Commonwealth Games Federation Court has issued their decision regarding an in-competition sample provided by Miss Nwokocha, who competed in Athletics at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
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“Analysis of the sample returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for Ostarine and Dihydroxy-LGD-4033, a metabolite of Ligandrol. Both are non-Specified Substances, listed under Other Anabolic Agents in the WADA 2022 Prohibited List.
“On 17 May 2023, The Federation Court issued a decision that Miss Nwokocha had committed the following Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) under the 2022 Commonwealth Games Anti-Doping Rules (ADRs):
“Accordingly, the Federation Court disqualified Miss Nwokocha’s results from the following events, with all resulting consequences, including forfeiture of any points and prizes:
- Athletics – Women’s 100m
- Athletics – Women’s 200m
- Athletics – Women’s 4x100m Relay, including the team’s forfeiture of the gold medal
“The matter has now been passed to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) to determine any further consequences under their anti-doping rules.
Nwokocha breaks silence, blames a fellow athlete for her positive test
Following the Commonwealth Federation release, Nwokocha through her solicitors has revealed her side of the story, saying she did not knowingly ingest performance-enhancing substances.
Read the full story on sportsnow.com
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Why there are controversies surrounding the doping
1 - The urinary concentration was described as being 0.1 ng/mL, by 3 August 2022, and then with there being no trace of Ostarine or Ligandrol by 7 August 2022. This means that the A Sample contained Ostarine and Dihydroxy-LGD-4033, a metabolite of Ligandrol. That, for a lay understanding of how much a nanogram per milliliter is, it would be equivalent to almost one piece of sugar in an Olympic swimming pool, but that was not a negligible amount.
2 - There are inconsistencies with the testing as twice the result came out negative and twice positive. This demonstrates that irrespective of the facts relating to the inadvertent ingestion of a contaminated product, there is good reason to question the accuracy of the test result on August 3rd, 2022.
3 - The AIU is yet to give its verdict, meaning the investigation is still ongoing and Nwokocha still has a case to plead.
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Whatever happens, hopefully, the AIU can be swift with their actions and Nwokocha can know her faith so she can be back on track doing what she knows how to do best.
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