The Athletics Federation of Nigeria says it received with great shock the press release by the Athletics Integrity Unit, suspending Blessing Okagbare for a doping rule violation.
The Federation, in a statement says it is in the process of obtaining the relevant details of the announcement after which a full reaction will be issued.
The AIU in the press release says the Nigerian 100/200m record holder has been provisionally suspended with immediate effect after a sample collected from the 32 year old tested positive for human Growth Hormone.
Growth Hormone is a non-specified substance on the 2021 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List and a provisional suspension is mandatory following an adverse analytical finding for such substance under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules.
The AIU says it collected the sample from Okagbare during an out-of-competition test on 19 July and revealed the WADA-accredited laboratory that analysed the sample notified the AIU of the adverse analytical finding at mid-day Central European Time yesterday, Friday 30 July.
The athlete was notified of the adverse analytical finding and of her provisional suspension Saturday morning in Tokyo. She was scheduled to participate in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m Saturday evening in Tokyo.