Nigeria Stripped of Birmingham Commonwealth Games Gold Medal
By: Gyang Dakwo
Nigeria has been stripped of the gold medal it won at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games following a positive drugs test involving Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha, who had run the anchor leg as Nigeria beat England by 0.21 seconds at Alexander Stadium on August 7, the last day of athletics at the games.
The following month, Nwokocha was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit for the use of banned substances ostarine and ligandrol pending investigation.
After concluding the investigation, the AIU has now confirmed that the sample was taken from Birmingham in 2022.
This means England won their 58th Commonwealth Games gold medal at Birmingham 2022 after the women’s 4×100 metres team were promoted to first place.
The England team – Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Bianca Williams, and Daryll Neita along with Ashleigh Nelson, who ran in the heat – are set to receive their medals at a special ceremony later this year.
As a result, the Jamaica team of Kemba Nelson, Natalliah Whyte, Remona Burchell, and Elaine Thompson-Herah will be upgraded to the silver medal while the Australian quartet of Ella Connolly, Bree Masters, Jacinta Beecher and Naa Anang, who missed the medal podium will receive the bronze.
