Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare banned for 10 years for doping: AIU

Blessing Okagbare has been banned for 10 years for doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Friday. The 33-year-old, who is also a sprinter, was expelled from the Tokyo Olympics last year before the women's 100m semi-finals after testing positive for human growth hormone at an out-of-competition test in Slovakia on July 19. "The Disciplinary Tribunal has banned Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare for a total of 10 years," read an AIU statement.

"Five years for the presence and use of multiple prohibited substances and five years for her refusal to co-operate with the AIU's investigation into her case." Okagbare -- who also won long jump silver in the 2013 world outdoor championships where she added a 200m bronze -- was not named but clearly identified in an indictment last month brought against her alleged supplier, Texas therapist Eric Lira. US justice department officials in New York said Eric Lira, a 41-year-old "naturopathic" therapist based in El Paso, supplied drugs to two athletes for the "purpose of corrupting" the Tokyo Games. The indictment included encrypted correspondence from Okagbare -- identified only as "Athlete 1" -- and Lira where the Nigerian testifies to the effectiveness of the substances following Olympic trials in Lagos on June 17, where she clocked a wind-assisted 10.63sec in the 100m.

"Hola amigo / Eric my body feel so good / I just ran 10.63 in the 100m on Friday / with a 2.7 wind / I am sooooo happy / Ericccccccc / Whatever you did, is working so well," Okagbare wrote. In a later message, Lira said Okagbare was poised to "dominate" in Tokyo. "What you did .

. . is going to help you for the upcoming events," Lira wrote.