Nigeria’s women relay team banned from Rio Olympics

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has thrown out Nigeria’s 4x400m women’s relay team out of next month’s Olympic Games in Brazil, according to Complete Sports.

Nigeria’s disqualification is due to the positive drugs test of Tosin Adeloye at the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Super Grand Prix/Warri Relays in Warri, Delta State on July 24, 2015.

Adeloye was a member of the Nigerian quartet that finished fourth at the IAAF World Championships last year in August. She actually ran the third leg in the semi-finals where the team ran 3:23.27 seconds, the second fastest time in Nigeria’s all-time record.

Adeloye also ran the third leg in the final. Other members of the quartet were Regina Goerge who ran the first leg, Funke Oladoye who ran the second leg and Patience Okon-George who anchored the team to finish fourth.

Adeloye’s positive drugs test has earned her a ban for eight years which implies that all results she achieved from the period she tested positive, whether  individually or jointly will be annulled.

While the trio of Okon-George, Margaret Bamgbose and Omolara Omotosho who have been picked by the AFN may be in Rio after meeting the qualfication standard  for the open 400m, Regina George, who has laboured to raise over $4,000 from the crowd-funding platform, Gofundme, is out as she did not meet the standard and was going to Rio only as a member of the relay team.

It would be recalled that Nigeria benefitted from a similar scenario at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia when one of Team USA’s relay team members tested positive for a banned substance. Nigeria had her silver win upgraded to gold.

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