Nigeria’s gold medal-winning weightlifter, Chika Amalaha, has been provisionally suspended from the Commonwealth Games holding in Glasgow, Scotland, after failing a doping test, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) said on Tuesday.
The 16-year-old won the women’s 53kg competition on Friday, lifting a combined 196kg.
Amalaha won the gold medal at the Clyde Auditorium on Friday, setting new Games records in her weight category in both the snatch and overall elements.
She was the first Nigerian to win a gold medal at this year’s Games.
According to Mike Hooper, the federation’s chief executive, Nigeria has been “issued a formal notice of disclosure to an athlete following an adverse analytical finding as a consequence of an in-competition test”.
He added that Amalaha’s “A sample was found to contain both amiloride and hydrochlorothiazide, both prohibited as diuretics and masking agents under class s5 of WADA’s Prohibited List”.
‘The relevant processes, as detailed in our anti-doping standard for the Games, are now being followed and Ms Amalaha has pursued her right to have her ‘B’ sample tested.
‘This will take place at an accredited laboratory in London tomorrow (Wednesday), July 30. Upon receipt of those results the process will continue.” he said.
Asked about the legitimacy of weightlifting as a Commonwealth Games sport given its history of drug-related incidents, Hooper added: ‘I think weightlifting is a fantastic sport and a strong Commonwealth and Olympic sport.
‘I think the issue here is about showing we have a robust anti-doping programme in place. We want to send a message to anybody in any sport who would go down the route of taking any substance to enhance performance that they will be caught.’
