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 The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individ ...

team that won both the World title in 2017 and the European title in 2016 and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, he also won the title in the 100 metres at the

2017 Diamond League The 2017 Diamond League was the eighth season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It is the first to feature the new championship-style system in w ...

final. On 18 February 2022 it was announced that Ujah and his teammates

Zharnel Hughes Zharnel Hughes (born 13 July 1995, The Valley, Anguilla) is an Anguillan-born British sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Born and raised in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, he has competed internationally for ...

Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake Nethaneel Joseph Mitchell-Blake (born 2 April 1994, London) is a British sprinter who specialises in the 200 metres. He was the 2013 European Junior Champion and his personal best of 19.95 seconds ranks him as the second-fastest in Britain of a ...

and

Richard Kilty Richard Kilty (born 2 September 1989 in Middlesbrough) is a British sprinter who competes both Indoor and Outdoor across all the sprint events including 60 metres, 100 metres, 150 metres, and 200 metres. A noted fast starter, and considered ...

would be stripped of their

2020 Summer Olympics silver medals after

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...

found Ujah guilty of a doping violation.

Early life and education

Chijindu Ujah was born in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

, London, into a family who are originally from

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

. He grew up in Enfield and has one older sibling. He attended St. Matthew's CE Primary School and

Bishop Stopford's School Bishop Stopford's School, commonly known as Bishop Stopford's, or (simply) just Bishop's, is a voluntary aided co-educational secondary school specialising in mathematics, computing and engineering, with a sixth form. It is a London Dioces ...

alongside his brother. Chijindu went on to study at

Sir George Monoux College Sir George Monoux College is a sixth form college located in Walthamstow, London. It is a medium-sized college with around 1,620 full-time students as of 2018. Brief history Sir George Monoux, the founder of the Grammar School (later Colleg ...

, a

sixth form college A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate ...

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and Sou ...

, where he took up Science and Maths. He studied Exercise Science at

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries o ...

in London.

Career

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 Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Pop ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

on 8 June 2014. 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 The 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games, officially known as the IV Commonwealth Youth Games, and commonly known as Isle Of Man 2011, is a multi-sport event which took place from 7 to 13 September 2011 in the British Crown Dependency of Isle of Man. As ...

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. On 14 February 2015, Chijindu Ujah won the Sainsbury's Indoor British Championships 60 m with a time of 6.57 seconds. 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 The 2017 Diamond League was the eighth season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It is the first to feature the new championship-style system in wh ...

title over 100 metres in 9.97 seconds.

Drugs controversy

At the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, he won 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 Enobosarm, also known as ostarine or MK-2866, is an investigational selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) developed by GTx, Inc. for the treatment of conditions such as muscle wasting and osteoporosis, formerly under development by Me ...

. 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. 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". 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 The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's k ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ujah, CJ 1994 births Living people Athletes from London English male sprinters British male sprinters Olympic male sprinters Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners European Athletics Championships winners European Athletics Championships medalists British Athletics Championships winners Diamond League winners People educated at Sir George Monoux College English people of Nigerian descent Black British sportspeople Competitors stripped of Summer Olympics medals Doping cases in athletics English sportspeople in doping cases