Nigerian sprinter, Divine Oduduru faces a possible six-year ban for Anti-Doping Violations after being suspended by The Athletics Integrity Unit.
In an official statement released to the press on Thursday, AIU stated that the sprinter has been notified of the suspension.
“The Athletics Integrity Unit has notified Divine Oduduru of two potential Anti-Doping Rule Violations and is seeking a six-year ban against the Nigerian. ” AIU said on its official website.
“The sprinter has been notified of potential ADRVs for possession (Rule 2.6 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules; ADR) and/or use or attempted use of multiple Prohibited Substances (Rule 2.2 ADR). He has been provisionally suspended immediately.”
The four-time NCAA sprint champion and Tokyo Olympian was revealed as the second athlete involved in top Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare’s doping scandal in 2022 that earned her a 10-year doping ban.
According to a string of messages on the popular social media app WhatsApp, Okagbare (Athlete #1) sought performance-enhancing drugs from El Paso, Texas-based naturopath Eric Lira, for herself and her Nigerian teammate Oduduru. At the time (June 2021), Oduduru was dealing with a hamstring injury and was “looking for help the hamstring heal really fast.”
On July 30, 2021, Okagbare was suspended following her 100m heat at the Tokyo Olympics when it was discovered that she had tested positive for human growth hormone (HGH) in an out-of-competition test on July 19. In addition, Okagbare had tested positive for EPO on June 20, and was also charged for refusing to co-operate with the investigation.
Okagbare was later given an additional ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) to her existing 10-year suspension for doping violations, evading sample collections and tampering with the doping control process.
When the text messages were released in January 2022, the identity of Athlet #2 was unknown but many speculated it was a male training partner of Okagbare’s at Florida-based Tumbleweed Track Club.
Okagbare and Oduduru were both a part of the Nigerian national team program and trained together under now-controversial coach Rana Reider with Tumbleweed Track Club. Reider was also the coach of Canadian 200m Olympic champion Andre De Grasse until recently.
Oduduru has not competed since Okagbare was suspended in January 2022.
Oduduru ran for Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, where he was a four-time NCAA champion in the 100m and 200m. He also reached the Tokyo Olympic semi-finals in the 200m and holds the Nigerian national record of 19.73 seconds.