2014 Glasgow CWG -Nigerian weightlifting gold medalist Chika Amalaha has failed a doping test

A 16-year-old Nigerian girl who won weightlifting gold faces being stripped of her title after providing the first in-competition positive drugs test of the Commonwealth Games.

Amalaha (centre) celebrates winning women's weightlifting 53kg class gold

Sir Craig Reedie, presiodent of the Wrld Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), expressed his shock that an athlete as young as Chika Amalaha should test positive for banned substances.

The teenager became the youngest female winner of a Commonwealth weightlifting title when she scooped gold in the 53kg class last Friday, but will be disqualified today if her ‘B’ sample results match those of her ‘A’ sample, which showed traces of a banned diuretic and masking agent.

Sir Craig Reedie, presiodent of the Wrld Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said: ‘I am very disappointed that somebody as young as that appears to have committed an offence at a multi-sport event like the Commonwealth Games.’

If Amalaha is stripped of her gold medal, it is understood WADA will investigate how such a young athlete was given access to illegal substances.

Her positive test also prompted questions about weightlifting’s legitimacy as a Commonwealth sport.

 

The event has a history of drug-related incidents, while Nigeria was barred from the 2002 Games in Manchester after four athletes tested positive in 2001.