Team GB’s relay team stripped of Olympic silver medal

CJ Ujah and the 4x100m relay team have had their Tokyo 2020 silver medals stripped in one of the darkest chapters in British sporting history.

Ujah sparked outrage after testing positive for two banned substances ostarine and S-23, which mimic testosterone, in the immediate aftermath of Team GB’s run to the second step of the podium last summer.

He argued to the Court of Arbitration for Sport that the drugs were consumed accidentally via a contaminated supplement, but on Friday the axe finally fell when the judgement went against the 27-year-old.

The rest of the quartet of Richard Kilty, Zharnel Hughes and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake will now also be stripped of their medals because of their team-mate’s actions.

Ujah said: ‘I would like to make it clear that I unknowingly consumed a contaminated supplement and this was the reason why an anti-doping rule violation occurred. I sincerely regret that this has inadvertently led to the forfeiture of the men’s 4 x 100m relay team’s Olympic silver medals.

‘I would like to apologise to my team-mates, their families and support teams for the impact which this has had on them. I’m sorry that this situation has cost my teammates the medals they worked so hard and so long for. That is something I will regret for the rest of my life.

CJ Ujah was part of Great Britain’s 4x100m relay team at last year’s Olympics in Tokyo

‘I would also like to apologise to both British Athletics and Team GB. British Athletics has supported the relay athletes for years and this has been difficult for everyone involved in the programme.’

It will now fall on the Athletics Integrity Unit to determine the length of ban, which could be up to four years.

The British Olympic Association issued a powerful statement after the Team GB medal haul from Tokyo dropped from 65 to 64. It read: ‘All athletes, wherever they are from, deserve to go to the start line knowing they are in clean competition. It is with deep sorrow that colleagues and opponents of Ujah were not able to be reassured of this fact in Tokyo. On behalf of everyone in British sport we unreservedly apologise to the athletes whose moment was lost in Tokyo due to the actions of Ujah.

‘We are also disappointed for the three colleagues of Ujah who, through no fault of their own, will now lose their silver medals.

Ujah and his teammates finished second in the final to earn themselves a silver medal

‘We note Ujah’s statement, and we welcome his contrition. That said, this should act as a salutary message for anyone – British or otherwise – who is doping or considering doping as a way of boosting their athletic performance. You will get caught. You are not welcome on our team and nor are you representative of our values, or of our nation.’

It is the third time a British medal has been stripped for doping after the skier Alain Baxter in 2002 and the judoka Kerrith Brown in 1988. 

Earlier on Friday, Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare was given a massive 10-year ban for testing positive for multiple substances at the Olympics and failing to cooperate with the subsequent investigation. 

Team GB have now been stripped of their silver medals after Ujah’s positive test was confirmed