As many as 20 athletes were banned from competing in Tokyo
As many as 20 athletes, ten of them from Nigeria, have been banned from competing in the Tokyo Olympics for failing to meet anti-doping standards outside of competition, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said.
All 20 athletes come from countries that the AIU places in the "A category", ie it considers them "high risk" due to which their representatives must be tested for doping three times within three months before each major competition.
The most affected is Nigeria, which lost as many as 10 athletes out of a total of 23 who were to perform at the Tokyo Games.
Agence France-Presse has learned from well-informed sources that the Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare, one of the main favorites in the 100m, is not on the list of disqualified athletes and female athletes and will be able to perform in Tokyo.
The Nigerian Athletics Federation today acknowledged the failure and took responsibility for the omissions which led to the disqualification of their athletes, but also adds that all Nigerian athletes living and training in the United States have passed all the necessary tests and will perform in Tokyo.
Other countries whose athletes are disqualified are Kenya (there are two disqualified athletes), Belarus (3), Ethiopia (1), Morocco (1) and Ukraine (3).