Sprinter Nwokocha cleared to return after doping ban

August 15, 2025 by Our Reporter

Nigerian sprinter Grace Nwokocha is eligible to return to competitive athletics after serving a three-year doping ban handed down by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

Nwokocha, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay team that won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham reportedly  tested positive for Ostarine and Dihydroxy-LGD4033 (a metabolite of Ligandrol) — substances banned at all times under the Commonwealth Games Federation’s (CGF) Anti-Doping Rules.

She had run the anchor leg at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium in a relay squad that included Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, and Rosemary Chukwuma, setting an African record of 42.10 seconds and holding off strong challenges from England’s Daryll Neita and Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah.

However, the positive test led to Nigeria being stripped of the gold medal, with England upgraded to gold, Jamaica to silver, and Australia awarded bronze.

Read Also: Ideye, Appiah  slam ‘tactical-less’ CHAN Eagles after Sudan ‘Chelling’

The AIU provisionally suspended Nwokocha on August 21, 2022, and in March 2023, the CGF Court found her guilty of anti-doping violations.

She accepted the decision through a Case Resolution Agreement, which backdated the start of her ban to August 3, 2022. The suspension officially ended on August 2, 2025.

As a result of the sanction, the now 24-year-old was forced to miss several major competitions, including:2023 World Athletics Championships; 2023 African Games; 2024 African Senior Athletics Championships and Paris 2024 Olympic Games

She will also miss the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo next month but now has a clear path to prepare for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Before her suspension, Nwokocha was widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s most promising young sprinters. She earned bronze at the 2019 African Junior Championships, claimed a 100m/200m double at the 2021 National Sports Festival in Edo State, and reached the semi-finals in both the 100m and 200m at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Oregon 2022 World Championships.

In January 2022, she joined North Carolina A&T State University in the United States and was later named the school’s Women’s Track Athlete of the Year in June.

With her ban now behind her, all eyes will be on how Nwokocha rebuilds her career and re-establishes herself on the track in the coming seasons.