Bahrain’s Nigerian-born female hurdler and quarter-miler, Oluwakemi Adekoya has fallen foul of using banned drugs and suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
Sports247.ng gathered that the failed drugs test dates back to a race she competed in for Bahrain late last year.
Adekoya tested positive for the steroid stanozolol and has been notified of the infringement on November 26, 2018.
The 25-year-old Adekoya, who switched her allegiance to the oil-rich Middle East country in 2014, will now await a hearing with AIU, which was founded by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 2018.
After representing Nigeria awesomely at junior levels, Adekoya has also twinkled for Bahrain, with which she has four gold medals at the Asian Games, including the 400m hurdles last year in Jakarta and Palambang.
She also helped Bahrain to the mixed 4x400m relay title in Indonesia, four years after winning the 400m flat and 400m hurdles double at the 2014 Games in Incheon.
Adekoya, who was born in Nigeria on January 16, 1993, specialises in 400 metres hurdles, at which she first excelled back in 2011, when she placed fifth at the national trials.
In 2012, she improved her best to 57.16 seconds to place second at the Confederation of African Athletics meet in Warri, but later did not have the sufficient qualifying standard as runner-up at the Olympic trials.
She was selected for the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics but did not compete, then set a new personal best of 55.30 seconds in 2013, finishing runner-up to Ajoke Odumosu and set a flat 400 metres best of 52.57 seconds.
Adekoya’s first race of 2014 marked a significant change for her career, as she defeated the entire elite 400m hurdles field in a surprise win on her debut in the Diamond League.
Her time of 54.59secs was a world-leader and Bahraini national record, but she had switched nationality to the oil-rich state at the start of the year and displayed a banner in love of her adopted nation afterwards.
This was unknown to then president of Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Chief Solomon Ogba, who was present at the race in Doha and he promptly complained to IAAF officials present.
However, Adekoya had never formally registered with Nigeria at senior level, despite winning many junior titles, and Ogba’s protest fell flat.
It was another example of African nations losing their top athletes to richer nations, the same way Nigeria also lost male Samuel Francis and Femi Ogunode to Qatar.
In her second Diamond League race she was a close second to Kaliese Spencer at the Bislett Games, after which she took third place at the Golden Spike Ostrava meet.
