By Akinwale Kasali
When Blessing Okagbare, Nigeria’s Athletics Queen, and a medal hopeful in the on-going Olympics in Tokyo, bemoaned the banning of 10 Athletes in Nigeria’s contingent from participating in the Games in a blistering attack on Sports Administrators in Nigeria, little did she know that she would be enmeshed in a worse scandal 24 hours later.
Okagbare was not among the 10 who were banned because their drug tests before the Olympics were not complete. Angered over the ban, and relieved that she was not among them, she had lashed out:
“I have said it before and I will say it again. If you do not know the sport, not passionate about it/us [the athletes], then you have no business there as an administrator. The sport system in Nigeria is so flawed and we athletes are always at the receiving end of the damages. “They were busy fighting over power, exercising their pride over Puma contracts/ kits forgetting their major responsibility “THE ATHLETES ”. It’s sad that this cycle keeps repeating itself and some people will come out to say I am arrogant for speaking my truth. It is my CAREER.”
But 24 hours later, Okagbare was given the boot from the Olympics. She failed a drug test after she took the first position in her heat.
This is Nigeria’s most scandalous outing to the Olympics, Nigerians bemoan. They are calling for the head of the Sports Minister, Sunday Dare.
Nigerians had high hoped that Okagbare would make it to the finals of the 100 meters sprint, having qualified for the semi finals scheduled for Saturday evening, but her ban has dashed that hope.
Okagbare and another Nigerian sprinter, Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha, had earlier qualified from their respective heats for the semi-finals.
Her suspension is the latest blow for Team Nigeria at the Tokyo Olympics. The male Basketball team D’Tigers, which gave so much hope for medals, have been crushed and bundled out, having lost in all their games.
The 32-year-old Okagbare who had won World championship medals in the 200m and the long jump was competing in her fourth Olympics. She had comfortably won her 100m heat in Tokyo on Friday with a time of 11.05 seconds, qualifying for Saturday’s semi-final before her ban.
She was also due to compete in the 200m as well as the 4X100m relay.
“The athlete was notified of the adverse analytical finding and of her provisional suspension this morning in Tokyo,” the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), said.
The AIU is an independent body created by the World Athletics that manages all integrity issues for the sport.
According to the AIU, Okagbare tested positive for Human Growth Hormone.
“Human Growth Hormone is a non-specified substance on the 2021 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List and a provisional suspension is mandatory following an adverse analytical finding for such substance under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules,” the AIU said in its statement.
“The AIU collected the sample from Ms. Okagbare during an out-of-competition test on 19 July. The WADA-accredited laboratory that analysed the sample notified the AIU of the adverse analytical finding at mid-day Central European Time yesterday, Friday 30 July.
“The athlete was notified of the adverse analytical finding and of her provisional suspension this morning in Tokyo.
“She was scheduled to participate in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m this evening”, the AIU said.
Sport lovers in the country have called for the immediate sack of the Minister of Sport, Sunday Dare, and the Officials of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, expressing anger and disappointment over the disqualification of Nigerian athletes at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
According to Emmanuel Alabi, a Sport analyst and enthusiast, the ban on Okagbare and other athletes was expected, stating that it failed to put its house in order by doing the needful before going for such an important event.
“What were they expecting, for the IOC to allow them to compete after not meeting the minimum standard for testing? They must be jokers.
“Table tennis, we didn’t pass the three rounds in both male and female categories. Football, we didn’t qualify. Basketball, we have lost two matches. Taekwando, we didn’t qualify.
“Our only hope was in athletics, even this one too, we couldn’t do the right thing to enable us to compete. Our Sports Ministry is in total shamble. Sunday Dare must go, he has failed”, Alabi said.
However, the Minister Dare, has said the Ministry will investigate circumstances surrounding the disqualification of Nigerian athletes at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
In a statement by the Federal Ministry of Sports titled: Ministry Wades to stem crisis., said
Dare apologised to the athletes and promised the Ministry would look into some of the issues the athletes have raised and ensure they are addressed soon.
But Nigerians say Dare’s apologies make no meaning, and is medicine after death. The first 10 banned athletes had taken to the streets in Tokyo, to protest their humiliation.
The hope of the nation winning a medal at the games is gone, almost.
