Team Nigeria face a race to register athletes for the track and field events of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which starts on Friday, our correspondent has learnt.
Several Nigerian athletes in Japan have not been granted access to the Olympics Games Village due to their inability to meet the mandatory out-of-competition tests required by the Athletics Integrity Unit.
The AIU requires that all athletes representing the country at the Olympic Games “are adequately tested in the lead-up to the event.”
By this, all athletes are expected to have taken three out-of-competition tests before the commencement of the event.
While Blessing Okagbare, Tobi Amusan, Ese Brume, Divine Oduduru and Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, who fall under the Anti-Doping Administration and Management System, have been cleared for the competition, many other athletes who are already in Japan are yet to meet this requirement.
Some of these athletes have only one or two tests done, while some are yet to have any done.
To ensure they are eligible to compete at the Olympics, our correspondent gathered that last-minute plans were being made to ensure they were tested before the athletics events, which begin on Friday.
