TEAM Nigeria’s gold medal in the women’s 4x100m athletics event of last year’s Commonwealth Games has been taken away and given to England.
The Nigerian quartet of Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Grace Nwokocha had made history at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham by becoming the first women’s relay team from the country to win a Commonwealth Games gold metal.
However, Nwokocha was later found to have tested positive for the use of banned anabolic steroids and the validity of Nigeria’s achievement, which was done with a 42.10 seconds African record, was questioned.
England’s 4x100m women’s relay team, who finished second in the final, have now been upgraded to gold as the Nigeria team have been officially disqualified.
The English quartet of Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Bianca Williams and Daryll Neita were officially elevated to gold medallists today after the Commonwealth Games Federation announced that Nwokocha had returned an adverse finding in her sample for two banned anabolic agents.
Nwokocha’s results from the 100m, 200m and sprint relay have all been disqualified, with the matter passed on to the Athletics Integrity Unit for any further sanctions.
England’s subsequent promotion to gold sees them retain the Commonwealth relay title, with Jamaica awarded second place and Australia to get bronze.
“Our team really deserves it as we work hard to achieve these medals,” Neita said. “It is a bittersweet feeling, now finding out we won gold.
“It feels amazing. However, it remains unknown as to what it would have felt like in the moment with the home crowd celebrating that win in Birmingham.”
Comments are closed.