Blessing Okagbare: Dina Asher-Smith’s rival ruled out of Tokyo Olympics after provisional ban

Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare is out of the Tokyo Olympics after being handed a provisional doping ban on the day of her 100m semi-final.

The Athletics Integrity Unit announced that Okagbare had “tested positive for human growth hormone” in an out-of-competition test on 19 July.

That resulted in a mandatory suspension, coming on the day that Okagbare was due to race against Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith in their semi-final in Tokyo.

Okagbare finished first in her heat for the women’s 100m on Friday, recording a time of 11.05 seconds to beat Britain’s Asha Philip and Tynia Gaither of the Bahamas.

That put the 32-year-old into a third consecutive Olympic semi-final.

Okagbare, who won Olympic silver in the long jump in Beijing 13 years ago, holds the Commonwealth Games record in the women’s 100 metres, set in Glasgow in 2014.

PA

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