Nijel Amos suspended ahead of World Athletics

The 2012 Olympics 800m silver medalist Nijel Amos has been provisionally suspended ahead of the World Athletics Championships after testing positive for a banned metabolite, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has announced.

Amos who was gearing up for the global championships set to kick off on Friday in Oregon returned a positive test from a sample collected in June 4 during the Rabat Diamond League.

The detected substance ‘GW1516’is a non-Specified Substance on the 2022 WADA Prohibited list and a provisional suspension is mandatory following an adverse analytical finding for such substance under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules.

“The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has today provisionally suspended Nijel Amos of Botswana with immediate effect after a sample collected from the 800m runner tested positive for Metabolites of GW1516, a substance that is prohibited under the 2022 WADA Prohibited List as a metabolic modulator,” read part of a statement from AIU.

Reacting to the news, Amos, an athlete who is considered a fierce competitor in the two-lap race said he had launched investigations to unearth what may have triggered the positive drug test.

“I have been made aware of adverse finding in my sample taken the day before the Rabat Diamond League race on the 4th of June 2022.I am currently investigating what may have caused this positive test and fully cooperating with the relevant authorities to reach a solution,” he wrote.