British sprinter CJ Ujah will be considered for selection after serving his drugs ban, says new UK Athletics technical director Stephen Maguire.
Britain won silver in the men’s 4x100m relay but was stripped of the medal following the doping violation.
“If [Ujah] is available to compete we will select him,” said Maguire.
“I haven’t spoken to CJ in a couple of years. He made a mistake and that’s clear, I need to see what the environment is like.”
Ujah, whose ban is backdated to 6 August 2021 and will end on 5 June 2023, was cleared of intentionally taking prohibited drugs by the Athletics Integrity Unit and World Anti-Doping Agency.
The World Athletics Championships take place in Hungary in August next year – two months after Ujah’s ban ends – and Maguire said he will assess the sprinter’s fitness to see if he is ready to make a comeback.
“CJ, first of all, has to run fast anyway,” said Maguire, who rejoined UK Athletics to replace Christian Malcolm in September.
“It’s looking at that environment and where it all fits. Hopefully things go easy for CJ in coming back and it would be great to have that choice in selecting CJ. The 100m and 4x100m is going to be tough for anyone.
“I’ll definitely be chatting to CJ. I’ve had a couple of conversations with the BOA (British Olympic Association). It’s getting to know them now the CJ news has broken. He’s eligible next year. It’s a conversation I’ll need to have.”
At the time of the positive test, Ujah said he had “unknowingly consumed a contaminated substance” and the situation is one he would “regret for the rest of my life”.
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.
Kilty said earlier this year he would never forgive Ujah for his “sloppy and reckless” behaviour.
On whether it will be hard to reintegrate Ujah back into the team, Maguire said: “Yes is the word because we have to reaffirm where we’re at, are we all on the same page?
“I’d be surprised if – although I’m not sure mediation is the right word – we didn’t have conversations about this, how it’s going to look.
“There is going to be a big group of athletes, not just CJ, Adam (Gemili), Richard or Zharnel. It’s a group working together to understand how to do things.”
