Banned British sprinter CJ Ujah says a “convenient” £10 supplement bought from Amazon caused him to test positive for two prohibited substances at the Tokyo Olympics.
Ujah has been handed a backdated 22-month ban but cleared of intentionally taking prohibited drugs by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) and World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).
Britain was stripped of its Olympic men’s 4x100m silver medal after he tested positive for Ostarine and S-23 at the 2021 Games.
Speaking to the Guardian, 28-year-old Ujah said he had become “complacent” during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
“During the pandemic I relied a lot on Amazon, rather than using the people and resources around me,” he said. “It was just convenient, with next-day delivery. And I didn’t think anything was wrong with it.”
Ujah said he had been taking the supplement beta alanine for “weeks” before the Olympics, but did not know they were contaminated with trace amounts of Ostarine and S-23. He said his final drugs test before the Olympics was May 2021.
Beta alanine, a naturally occurring amino acid, is legal under Wada rules, but Ostarine and S-23 are selective androgen receptor modulators (Sarms) and the UK Anti-Doping website states Ostarine is a drug designed to have similar effects to testosterone.
“You know what? I wish I had been tested right before the Olympics, so that I never went,” he said.
“That way, I would never have put these other three guys, my team-mates, through what they went through as well as myself.”
Ujah apologised to his 4x100m relay team-mates Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, after Britain was stripped of a medal at a summer or winter Games for only the third time.
His ban is backdated to 6 August 2021 and will end on 5 June 2023, which would permit him to compete at August’s World Championships in Budapest if selected.
UK Athletics (UKA) expressed its “extreme disappointment, frustration and sadness” towards the actions of Ujah.
The athlete has said he no longer takes supplements as he bids to “prove himself more than ever”.
“I don’t take anything,” he said. “In the future, I’m going to look to get everything from natural foods. Because I’m scared. I was even scared at one point to take paracetamol.
“You just become frightened of putting anything in your body.”
AIU head Brett Clothier said: “Taking supplements is risky for athletes as they can be contaminated or even adulterated with prohibited substances.
“Athletes owe it to their fellow competitors to be 100% certain before putting anything into their body. If there’s the slightest doubt, leave it out.”
