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CJ Ujah

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CJ Ujah
Chijindu Ujah in 2013
Personal information
Birth nameChijindu Ujah
NationalityBritish
Born (1994-03-05) 5 March 1994 (age 30)
Ponders End, Enfield, London, United Kingdom
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [1]
Weight75 kg (165 lb) [1]
Sport
Country Great Britain
 England
SportMen's athletics
EventSprints
Achievements and titles
Personal best100 m: 9.96 (Hengelo 2014)
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Disqualified 2020 Tokyo 4×100 m relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 London 4×100 m relay
Diamond League
First place 2017 Zurich 100 m
European Athletics Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Amsterdam 4×100 m relay
Gold medal – first place 2018 Berlin 4×100 m relay
Men's junior athletics
Representing  Great Britain
European Athletics Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 Rieti 100 m
Representing  England
Commonwealth Youth Games
Silver medal – second place 2011 Douglas 100 m
Silver medal – second place 2011 Douglas 4×100 m relay

Chijindu "CJ" Ujah (born 5 March 1994) is a British athlete, specializing as a sprinter. The lead-off runner of the Great Britain 4 × 100 metres relay team that won both the World title in 2017 and the European title in 2016 and 2018, he also won the title in the 100 metres at the 2017 Diamond League final.

On 18 February 2022 it was announced that Ujah and his teammates Zharnel Hughes, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Richard Kilty would be stripped of their 4 × 100 metres relay 2020 Summer Olympics silver medals after Court of Arbitration for Sport found Ujah guilty of a doping violation.[2]

Early life and education

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Chijindu Ujah was born in Enfield, London, into a family who are originally from Nigeria. He grew up in Enfield and has one older sibling. He attended St. Matthew's CE Primary School and Bishop Stopford's School alongside his brother. Chijindu went on to study at Sir George Monoux College, a sixth form college in Walthamstow, where he took up Science and Maths. He studied Exercise Science at Middlesex University in London.[3]

Career

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Ujah is the fifth British sprinter to break 10 seconds for the 100 metres, and the youngest to do so, as of June 2014 he is ranked first on the all-time European under-20 list, and third on both the all-time British list and the all-time European under-23 list for the event with a fastest time of 9.96 (with a +1.4 tailwind), achieved at Hengelo, Netherlands on 8 June 2014.[4]

He is coached by Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo.

In 2013, he became the European Junior Champion in the 100 m.

At youth level, Ujah won the silver medal over 100 metres at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games[5] He also finished 8th in the IAAF World Youth Games 100 m. In 2012, he came 6th in the IAAF World Junior Championships 100 m.[6]

On 14 February 2015, Chijindu Ujah won the Sainsbury's Indoor British Championships 60 m with a time of 6.57 seconds.[7]

At the 2016 Summer Olympics from Rio de Janeiro, he failed to make the final of the 100 metres by 0.01 seconds.

He ran the first leg in the 4 × 100 metres relay for Great Britain, the gold medal winning team at the 2017 World Championships in London on 12 August. Two weeks later, he won his first global individual title, winning the 2017 IAAF Diamond League title over 100 metres in 9.97 seconds.

Doping ban

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At the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, he was awarded a silver medal for the 4x100 men's relay event. He was later provisionally suspended for an alleged doping violation after his doping test showed the presence of a prohibited substance S-23 and Enobosarm.[8][9] On 14 September 2021 it was announced that his 'B' sample had also tested positive, confirming the initial test and "almost certainly" resulting in the relay team being disqualified and losing their medals.[10] On 18 February 2022, having not appealed the findings of the test, the British relay team had their medals officially stripped. Ujah stated that he had "unknowingly consumed a contaminated substance".[11] On 10 October 2022, Ujah was banned for 22 months, backdating to 6 August 2021 and ending on 5 June 2023. Despite the ban, Ujah was cleared of intentionally taking prohibited drugs by the AIU and the World Anti-Doping Agency.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Chijindu Ujah". Eurosport. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  2. ^ BBC Breaking News [@BBCBreaking] (18 February 2022). "Great Britain stripped of silver medal in men's 4x100m relay at Tokyo Olympics after team member CJ Ujah found to have committed doping violation https://t.co/e2kFkX4akM" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "Athletics UJAH Chijindu - Tokyo 2020". olympics.com. The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 2020.
  4. ^ "Britain's Chijindu Ujah dips under 10-second barrier". www.telegraph.co.uk. 8 June 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Commonwealth Youth Games Results - Isle of Man 2011 | Competitors | Chijindu Ujah". Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Athlete Profile". www.thepowerof10.info. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  7. ^ "British Athletics Official WebsiteAthlete Information". Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  8. ^ "GB's Ujah suspended after positive test". BBC Sport. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Britain's Ujah suspended for doping violation at Olympics - TSN.ca". TSN. Associated Press. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  10. ^ "British Olympic 4x100m relay silver medallist's 'B' sample positive". BBC News. 14 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  11. ^ "CJ Ujah: Great Britain lose Tokyo Olympics relay medal after doping violation". BBC Sport. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  12. ^ "CJ Ujah: British sprinted banned for 22 months following failed drug test". BBC Sport. 10 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
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