OHURUOGU CLEARED TO RACE AFTER DOPE PROBE

VICTORIA OHURUOGU is targeting a place at the Paris Olympics after being cleared of breaching anti-doping rules following a 16-month probe. Britain’s top female 400 metres runner was placed under investigation by UK Anti-Doping in December 2022 after being photographed at a London track alongside her Italian boyfriend Antonio Infantino, while he was serving a three-year drugs ban. Ohuruogu — the younger sister of 2008 Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu — was charged under ‘prohibited association’ rules, which bar athletes from being trained by anyone serving a drugs ban. The 31-year-old was subsequently withdrawn from Britain’s bronze medal-winning 4x400m relay quartet at last year’s World Championships, amid fears the team could be retrospectively disqualified if she was later found guilty. However, an independent panel has now ruled that Ohuruogu was not being coached by Infantino and the charge against her has been dismissed. In a statement, Ohuruogu said the investigation had ‘cost me the chance to run in what would have been careerdefining events and caused huge disruption to my preparation and training in an Olympic year’. She added: ‘I’m now eager to put this firmly behind me, get my head down and train hard for the outdoor season and — hopefully — the Olympics. ‘The GB team is very strong, and I hope to be able to contribute to its continued success. ‘I take my anti-doping obligations extremely seriously and am pleased that the truth of the matter — which is exactly as I have always maintained — has now been confirmed.’ Ohuruogu won a 400m silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and reached the semi-finals at the past two World Championships.