Nigeria’s Chika Amalaha has failed a doping test days after winning gold in the women’s 53kg weightlifting event at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
As a result, the 16-year old has been handed a provisional suspension from the Games after her A-sample submitted after winning gold showed traces of traces of diuretics and masking agents.
According to Commonwealth Games executive Mike Hooper, ”We issued a formal notice of disclosure to an athlete following an adverse analytical finding as a consequence of an in-competition test. That athlete is Nigerian weightlifter Chika Amalaha who was tested on July 25th.”
Hooper stated further that ”In general terms, [diuretics and masking agents] are on the prohibited list for two reasons – firstly in weight category sports they can be used to unfairly aid weight loss … and secondly, their use has been reported in attempts to mask the presence in the body of other prohibited substances.”
The Games Executive added that Amalaha has exercised her right to have a B-sample submitted for testing at a London laboratory on Wednesday.
Amalaha would be stripped of the gold medal if the result of the B-sample returns positive and would also face a lengthy ban from the sport.
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