KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica stands to earn a silver medal from last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham after the Nigerian women’s 4x100m team that had won the gold medal was disqualified after one of its members failed a drug test.

Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha who had run the anchor leg on the Nigerian women’s team was found guilty of doping by the Commonwealth Games Federation Court, it was announced on Friday.

England, who had finished second, were promoted to first place, followed by Jamaica and Australia.

The Nigerian team had run what was an African record 42.10 seconds.

Nwokocha was “provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) the following month, for the use of banned anabolic steroids ostarine and ligandrol following a sample taken at Birmingham 2022. Ostarine and ligandrol are both non-Specified Substances, listed by name under section S1.2 (Other Anabolic Agents) in the WADA 2022 Prohibited List,” according to a release from the Commonwealth Games Federation.

The Commonwealth Games Federation Court heard Nwokocha’s case in May where her assertion that “a fellow member of the Nigerian team had drunk from her bottle of Lucozade, and thereby caused the adverse analytical finding (AAF)” was rejected. The athlete’s lawyer explained: “she was probably the victim of a contamination of her drinks whilst in practice sessions on the track at the athletes’ village.”

-Paul A Reid