NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Commonwealth Games women’s 100 metres gold medallist Osayemi Oludamola has been suspended after testing positive for a banned stimulant, Games Federation chief Mike Fennell said yesterday.
The Nigerian’s sample contained the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine, which was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of banned substances for the first time this year.
The 24-year-old’s suspension was extended after a hearing yesterday and she will keep her gold medal until after her B sample is tested.
“(The) B Sample result is expected within 48 hours from the time of the request so further details are not expected until Wednesday morning,” said a Games Federation statement.
Oludamola took gold after Australian Sally Pearson, who crossed the line first in Thursday’s race, was disqualified for a false start three hours after the finish.
Natasha Mayers, who crossed the line third in the blue riband sprint to take St Vincent and the Grenadines’ first athletics medal, will be elevated to gold medallist if Oludamola is stripped of the title.
Mayers herself served a two-year doping ban after testing positive for testosterone in 2005.
The online edition of Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper (www.vanguardngr.com) quoted the president of Athletics Federation of Nigeria as saying that they would back the athlete as they believed she took the substance inadvertently.
“She took medication for her toothache and we strongly suspect that it was that which led to her failed drug test,” Solomon Ogba told the paper.
‘SHOCKED AND DISAPPOINTED’
Elias Usman Gora, chef de mission of the Nigeria team, told Reuters he was “shocked and disappointed”.
“We brought our athletes here to compete and in the right spirit,” he said. “It is very unfortunate if the second test also comes out positive. “We had done out of competition testing on most of our athletes before coming here, except a few who joined us directly from the United States and Canada. Osayemi happens to be one who joined us from the United States. “She has been a good athlete and had no problems with doping ever. I just don’t know what happened.”
A world championship 100 metres finalist in 2007, Oludamola reached the semi-finals of the sprint at the Beijing Olympics a year later. “Any positive test, whether it is in a high-profile event or not, is something that is very much regretted because we all are striving for clean Games, clean sports and clean competitions,” said Fennell.
Organisers have conducted over 950 tests since the start of the Games, Fennell said, with Oludamola’s the first positive in more than 700 results. “We just want to let everyone know that we are very vigilant,” Fennell added. “This is something we have to work with and do a part in monitoring and eliminating doping in sports.”