Commonwealth Games women’s 100m gold medalist Osayemi Oludamola has been suspended after testing positive for a banned stimulant, Games Federation chief Mike Fennell said yesterday.
The Nigerian’s sample contained the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine, which was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of banned substances for the first time this year.
The 24-year-old’s suspension was extended after a hearing yesterday and she will keep her gold medal until after her B sample is tested.
PHOTO: AFP
“[The] B Sample result is expected within 48 hours from the time of the request so further details are not expected until Wednesday morning,” a Games Federation statement said.
Oludamola took gold after Australian Sally Pearson, who crossed the line first in Thursday’s race, was disqualified for a false start three hours after the finish.
Natasha Mayers, who crossed the line third in the blue riband sprint to take St Vincent and the Grenadines’ first athletics medal, will be elevated to gold medalist if Oludamola is stripped of the title.
Mayers herself served a two-year doping ban after testing positive for testosterone in 2005.
The online edition of Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper quoted the president of Athletics Federation of Nigeria as saying that they would back the athlete as they believed she took the substance inadvertently.
“She took medication for her toothache and we strongly suspect that it was that which led to her failed drug test,” Solomon Ogba told the paper.
Elias Gora, chef de mission of the Nigeria team, said he was “shocked and disappointed.”
“We brought our athletes here to compete and in the right spirit,” he said. “It is very unfortunate if the second test also comes out positive.”
“We had done out of competition testing on most of our athletes before coming here, except a few who joined us directly from the United States and Canada. Osayemi happens to be one who joined us from the United States,” Gora said.
Pearson finally got her gold, winning the 100m hurdles yesterday, and Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker added yet another to his collection.
Pearson, the Olympic silver medalist, got off fast and led for the entire race, finishing in a Commonwealth Games record of 12.67 seconds at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to win her first games gold medal. The previous mark of 12.70 was set by Gillian Russell of Jamaica in 1998 at Kuala Lumpur.
“It has been a horrible week because of the disqualification,” Pearson said. “I am just relieved and I am just happy now. I did not even have to look, I just knew I had won the gold.”
Angela Whyte of Canada was second in 12.98, and Andrea Miller took bronze in 13.25.
Hooker easily won his second straight Commonwealth Games title.
The world champion cleared 5.50 in his first attempt, and then 5.60 on his next. Although Hooker missed at his first chance at 5.70, he’d still guaranteed himself gold.
He then made an attempt at a Commonwealth Games record 5.85, but he stopped his run before making a jump.
Steven Lewis of England claimed silver with the same 5.60 height, and teammate Max Eaves took bronze with a jump of 5.40.
Cydonie Mothersill of the Cayman Islands won the women’s 200, which had been scheduled for Sunday but was postponed because the Cypriot team protested the disqualification of sprinter Eleni Artymata. The appeal was denied on Sunday night and Artymata did not race yesterday.
“The officials made the decision [to postpone the race],” Mothersill said. “It was not my concern. I knew what I had to do and that was to finish on top of the podium.”
Mothersill pulled ahead early and was never in danger of being overtaken, winning in 22.89 seconds. Abiodun Oyepitan of England earned silver in 23.26 and Adrienne Power of Canada was third in 23.52.
India swept the medals in the women’s discus, with Krishna Poonia winning with a toss of 61.51 meters. Harwant Kaur threw 60.16 for silver and Seema Antil was third with 58.46.
The men’s steeplechase was another sweep, this time for Kenya.
Richard Mateelong won the race in 8:16.39, holding off world champion Ezekiel Kemboi, who finished in 8:18.47. Kemboi beat Kipkemboi at last year’s world’s, leaving his teammate with silver.
Olympic champion Brimin Kiprop Kipruto earned bronze in 8:19.65.
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