Left: Rosemary Chukwuma; Right: Ruth UsoroPhoto: Getty Images
Two Texas Tech University track and field stars are no longer allowed to compete in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
Triple jump champion Ruth Usoro and sprinter Rosemary Chukwuma are the among the 10 track and field athletes from Nigeria who were declared ineligible for the games on Wednesday, July 28, because they failed to meet anti-doping guidelines, KCDB reported.
The Nigerian athletes were cut because they didn't take the required drug tests.
The International Association of Athletics Federation considers Nigeria a "Category A" country because it was "deemed to have the highest doping risk and considered as a threat to the overall integrity of the sport," according to an IAAF statement.
Other Category A countries include Belarus, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco.
Texas Tech track and field coach Wes Kittley stood up for his athletes and said neither Usoro or Chukwuma were at fault.
"The Nigerian Federation was supposed to have three tests performed on all their athletes within ten months prior to the Olympic games. Ruth or Rosemary knew nothing about this it was never notified by the Nigerian Federation or anyone this needed to happen, so those tests were never given. That is the problem they were not tested ten months prior. A tremendous ball was dropped by the Nigerian Federation by either not knowing this or just failing to get the ten athletes that this affects on their team," he told KCDB.
Usoro was scheduled to compete in the triple jump, while Chukwuma was set to compete in the women's 4x400 meter.