Banned British sprinter CJ Ujah cleared of deliberately taking drugs at Olympics

The British 100m sprinter CJ Ujah has been cleared of deliberately taking banned drugs by the Athletics Integrity Unit and the World Anti-Doping Agency, and will be free to return to competition next year.

Ujah led off Team GB’s men’s 4x100m relay team as they won silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 only to then test positive for two prohibited substances, ostarine and S-23. It led to the British team being stripped of their medals – and to Ujah facing a four-year ban.

However in a statement on Monday, the AIU confirmed that Ujah would now be banned for 22 months after a thorough investigation found in his favour. He will still have to serve a reduced ban as, under Wada’s strict liability rules, an athlete is still responsible for everything they put in the body.

“The AIU and Wada were satisfied that the sprinter’s anti-doping rule violation was not intentional as a result of his ingestion of a contaminated supplement and the applicable two-year period of ineligibility was reduced by two months on account of how promptly he admitted the violation,” the AIU said in a statement.

The decision means that Ujah will be free to return to action on 5 June 2023, giving him two months to prove his fitness before potentially returning to the British team in time for next year’s world championships in Hungary.

However the AIU head Brett Clothier warned athletes to understand the consequences that could arise from taking supplements – and to pay better attention to the relevant rules and athlete education programmes.

“In this case, after a thorough examination of the facts, we were satisfied that Mr Ujah did indeed ingest a contaminated supplement, but he was unable to demonstrate that he was entitled to any reduction in the