Athletics Integrity Unit Provisionally Suspends Divine Oduduru

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has announced an immediate suspension of Nigerian sprinter, Divine Oduduru, over anti-doping rule violation.

READ ALSO: Oduduru Will Run Faster At Olympics, Says Solomon Ogba

AIU announced the sprinter’s suspension in a statement released on Thursday.

The body said Oduduru was identified as one of the clients of Eric Lira, a self-acclaimed kinesiologist and naturopathic doctor, who is currently a plaintiff in a case titled “US’ first Olympic anti-doping charges”.

The 26-year-old sprinter joins Blessing Okagbare on the list of athletes identified as collaborators with Lira.

Lira was accused of providing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes who participated in the Tokyo Olympics.

In 2022, Okagbare was banned for 11 years following an investigation by AIU after she failed an out-of-competition doping test.

In the statement, AIU said Oduduru was identified as a suspect “based on the information in the complaint, including text conversations imaged from Okagbare’s mobile phone by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”