CJ Ujah: Britain stripped of Olympic 4x100m silver medal after sprinter’s doping charge upheld

Ujah claimed he inadvertently consumed a contaminated supplement the Court of Arbitration for Sport was satisfied that an anti-doping violation had taken place

CJ Ujah tested positive for the prohibited substances ostarine and S-23 (PA Archive)

Team GB have been stripped of the Olympic men’s 4x100m silver medal they won in Tokyo after CJ Ujah’s doping charge was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The British quartet of Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake were pipped on the line by Italy in the race in Japan on 6 August, with Canada finishing third and China fourth. However, Ujah was provisionally suspended after testing positive for prohibited substances ostarine and S-2, and his B sample later corroborated the findings.

None of his three teammates are implicated in wrongdoing, but all four sprinters will now lose their Olympic silver medals, with Canada and China set to be upgraded to silver and bronze respectively.

On Friday, the court’s Anti-Doping Division (CAS ADD) revealed Ujah had not challenged the anti-doping rule violation but had claimed he had “not knowingly or intentionally doped, suggesting that the source of the prohibited substances could have been the ingestion of a contaminated supplement”.

However, the CAS ADD arbitrator was “satisfied that an anti-doping rule violation had been committed”.

World Athletics will now consider whether Ujah, 27, should serve a ban from competition.

Great Britain’s Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Richard Kilty, Ujah and Zharnel Hughes (l-r) after the men’s 4x100m relay final (PA Archive)

In a statement, CJ Ujah said: “I accept the decision issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport today with sadness. 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 at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

“I sincerely regret that this has inadvertently led to the forfeiture of the men’s 4x100m relay team’s Olympic silver medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games. 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 team-mates the medals they worked so hard and so long for, and which they richly deserved. That is something I will regret for the rest of my life.

“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. Representing my country at a second Olympic Games surpassed my childhood sporting ambitions and I will forever be devastated that this situation has marred the success achieved by the men’s 4x100m relay team in Tokyo.

“Now that the IOC proceedings have concluded before CAS, my focus is on the forthcoming proceedings before World Athletics and I will therefore not be making any further comment until those separate proceedings have concluded.”