British athlete Chijindu Ujah has been stripped of his Olympic silver medal in the men's 4x100m relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after a doping violation.

Athletics: CAS Upholds Chijindu Ujah’s Doping Violation

Last updated Feb 18, 2022

British athlete Chijindu Ujah has been stripped of his Olympic silver medal in the men’s 4x100m relay in Tokyo last August after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld his anti-doping violation on Friday.

Ujah has been provisionally suspended since Ostarine and S-23 — both substances prohibited by world anti-doping organisation WADA — were detected in his A and B samples following the final.

In a statement on Friday, CAS said its Anti-Doping Division had found that Ujah had committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation and that his team’s result from the 4x100m relay on August 6th had been disqualified.

British athlete Chijindu Ujah (L) and his 4x100m relay team mates Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake

Ujah and his relay team mates Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake finished narrowly second behind Italy. Canada will now be upgraded to silver with China moving into the bronze medal position.

Read more: ‘I Am Not A Cheat’, Says British Athlete Ujah
Read more: British Olympic silver medallist CJ Ujah suspended for doping violation

In a statement CAS acknowledged that Ujah had not challenged the decision in his written submissions to the hearing and that he claimed he had “not knowingly or intentionally doped”. The 27-year-old said he had been left “devastated” by his anti-doping violation.

“I accept the decision issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport today with sadness,” Ujah said in a statement on Friday. “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 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, and which they richly deserved. That is something I will regret for the rest of my life.”

Ujah will now have to wait for the Athletics Integrity Unit to determine the length of any ban, which could be as long as four years.

Chidi Nwoke/Reuters.