The £10 Ujah spent online cost so much
CJ UJAH has blamed a £10 supplement bought off Amazon during lockdown for the failed drugs test that cost Britain an Olympic medal.
The British sprinter (top) broke his silence after being handed a reduced 22-month ban, which means he is able to compete at the next Games in Paris.
The lighter sentence came after he was able to prove to the Athletics Integrity Unit that the beta-alanine supplement he took was contaminated with a drug called Ostarine – which is designed to have similar effects to testosterone – and thereby satisfy them that he had not deliberately taken drugs.
It does not change the fact relay team-mates (below) Richard Kilty, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Zharnel Hughes were all stripped of their Olympic silver medals through his actions.
UK Athletics acknowledged as much in their response to the judgment, voicing “extreme disappointment, frustration and sadness” that Ujah’s actions had cost the innocent trio.
The governing body said: “The negligence of one individual to fulfil their commitment to clean athletics – one of the essential obligations of representing GB & NI – had a devastating impact upon the entire relay programme, none more so than the other athletes who competed alongside Ujah in the Olympic final.”
Ujah admitted to making a mistake in trusting the online supplement but insisted he is no cheat. He blamed “complacency” for his fateful decision to order the supplement online that was not approved by Informed Sport, which guarantees a product is batch-tested for prohibited drugs before going on sale.
“It (Amazon) was just convenient, with next-day delivery,” he told the Guardian. “And I didn’t think anything was wrong with it.
“The hardest moment was when I first saw my family. My mum was crying. My dad was very upset. And then I started crying too, because my mum was crying. Suddenly I had this stain against my name. It hurt so much and it still does.”
Ujah is only the third Briton to test positive at an Olympics after 1988 Judo player Kerrith Brown and 2002 slalom skier Alain Baxter. In addition to the Olympic 4 x 100m medal, it cost him his place at four championships in 2022. Kilty said he would not ever be able to forgive him.
The BOA have yet to comment on the judgment but were highly critical of the athlete. They said “all athletes, wherever they are from, deserve to go to the start line knowing they are in clean competition.
“It is with deep sorrow that colleagues and opponents of Ujah were not able to be reassured of this. On behalf of everyone in British sport we unreservedly apologise to the athletes whose moment was lost in Tokyo due to the actions of Ujah.”