Tokyo 2020 - Zharnel Hughes wants his Team GB teammate CJ Ujah to be treated fairly in doping investigation
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
ByEurosport
Updated 24/08/2021 at 10:17 GMT
CJ Ujah has been provisionally suspended from athletics having tested positive in a drugs test shortly after helping Great Britain secure a silver medal in the men's 4x100m relay at the Tokyo Olympics. Ujah has denied any wrongdoing. He said in a statement to PA news agency: "To be absolutely clear, I am not a cheat. I have never and would never knowingly take a banned substance."
Zharnel Hughes
Image credit: Getty Images
British sprinter Zharnel Hughes hopes the doping investigation into team-mate CJ Ujah will be done “without prejudice”.
Less than a week after Ujah, Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake won silver in the 4x100m relay at Tokyo 2020, Ujah was provisionally suspended after a positive drugs test.
The Athletics Integrity Unity (AIU) said the test showed the "presence/use of a prohibited substance (Ostarine and S-23)."
With an investigation now underway, Hughes has taken to social media to say the sport needs to be rid of doping but his teammate's case must be treated fairly.
The 26-year-old wrote on Twitter: "I've not posted since the Olympics because of a situation out of my control - one I am not involved in, but may be impacted by.
"It would be easier to say nothing, but I think it's important to say that as athletes we need two things.
"First and foremost, a clean sport. The authorities are there to protect sport - something every athlete needs for fair competition.
We also need to ensure that athletes finding themselves under the spotlight must have a fair hearing in their case, without prejudice.
Should the investigation prove Ujah cheated, the British relay quartet will be stripped of their medals.
Ujah, who won the 100m at the British championships in June, won his opening leg of the relay which was eventually won by Italy.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement