Team GB lose 4x100m Olympic silver after Ujah doping confirmed

Britain’s 4x100m relay team has been stripped of its 2020 Olympic silver medal after CJ Ujah’s failed doping test at the Tokyo Games was confirmed. The news marks the biggest doping scandal in British Olympic history, and only the second time that a Team GB athlete has lost a medal at summer or winter Games.

The first, skier Alain Baxter, lost his alpine slalom bronze medal in 2002 after using a Vicks inhaler purchased in the US. It later transpired that the same inhaler bought in the UK did not contain the illegal substance.

The news was confirmed following a hearing at the court of arbitration for sport in November but only revealed on Friday. It found that the 27-year-old sprinter did have two banned substances in a urine sample, ostarine and S-23, which are known as selective androgen receptor modulators that mimic testosterone in the body.

Ujah had blamed his failed test on a contaminated supplement. However under the strict liability rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency that is no defence.

In a statement Ujah said: “I accept the decision issued by the court of arbitration for sport today with sadness. I would like to make it clear that I unknowingly consumed a contaminated supplement and this was the reason why an anti-doping rule violation occurred at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

“I sincerely regret that this has inadvertently led to the forfeiture of the men’s 4x100m relay team’s Olympic silver medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games. I would like to apologise to my teammates, their families and support teams for the impact which this has had on them. That is something I will regret for the rest of my life.”

The British men’s quartet of Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake missed out on the