The 4×100-meter relay team was stripped of their silver medal from Tokyo after C.J. Ujah’s doping violation was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday, in one of Britain’s worst Olympic doping scandals.
Ujah was part of a quartet that finished second to Italy in a close race by 0.01 seconds in August, alongside Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty, and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake. However, following the race in Tokyo, a sample from Ujah was revealed to contain the banned drugs ostarine and S-23, which are muscle-building selective androgen receptor modulators.
Canada will be promoted to silver, while China will be demoted to bronze.
Ujah did not contest the anti-doping rule infraction, but his allegation of inadvertently ingesting a contaminated supplement was dismissed. Now, the suspended Ujah is awaiting a decision from the Athletics Integrity Unit regarding a ban.
In a statement, Ujah stated, “I would like to apologise to my teammates, their families, and support teams for the impact this has had on them.” “I’m sorry that this incident has lost my comrades the medals that they so properly deserved and for which they worked so hard and so long. I’ll live with that remorse for the rest of my life.”
Britain has only been stripped of two Olympic medals, both bronze, in its history. At the 1988 Seoul Games, judoka Kerrith Brown tested positive for a diuretic while claiming ignorance of the substance’s prohibition, and at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, banned stimulant methamphetamine was identified in skier Alain Baxter’s sample after he used a nasal inhaler.
Ujah’s activities were not defended by the British Olympic Association.
“We appreciate his repentance. “However, this should serve as a warning to anyone — British or not — who is doping or considering doping as a means of improving sporting performance,” the BOA said in a statement. “You’re going to get caught.” You are not welcome on our team, and you do not reflect our beliefs or our country.”
After the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Tokyo was Britain’s second-most successful overseas Olympics. Britain was unable to match its 65-medal tally from the 2012 home games in London due to a loss of a medal.
“All athletes, regardless of where they are from, deserve to know they are competing in a safe environment,” the BOA stated. “It is with great regret that Ujah’s colleagues and opponents in Tokyo were unable to be reassured of this truth.”
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