Nigeria's Osayomi loses 100m Gold after positive test at Commonwealth Games in Delhi

Nigerian sprinter Oludamola Osayomi has been stripped of the women's 100 metres Commonwealth Games gold medal after her B sample confirmed a positive test for a banned stimulant - Methylhexaneamine.

The Commonwealth Games Federation said today in a statement that "with the 'B'sample confirming the results of the 'A' sample, the Federation Court determined that Ms Oludamola had committed an anti-doping rule violation and that she be disqualified from the games and all her competition results at the 2010 Commonwealth Games be nullified."

Natasha Mayers of St Vincent and the Grenadines will be moved up to gold, Katherine Endacott of England will get silver and Bertille Delphine Atangana of Cameroon will be awarded bronze.

The women's 100m race was thrown into controversy even before it started, with both Laura Turner of England and Sally Pearson of Australia both false starting. Both ran anyway, and Pearson crossed first before being disqualified hours later.

Endacott originally finished out of the medals in fourth place.

'Suspect supplements'

Also, Samuel Okon, a finalist in the men's 110m hurdles, was suspended after a waiving his right to have his "B" sample tested. He was also disqualified from the games and his results were nullified, the federation said.

Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell said earlier on Tuesday that Okon, who was sixth in the 110 hurdles final last Friday, had also tested positive for Methylhexaneamine.

"It's a stimulant," Fennell said of the drug, which has also been found in samples from about a dozen Indian athletes in recent months. "At this stage I cannot speak very definitively as to where it's coming from, but it appears to us that it may be coming from the use of supplements."

Fennell said the Nigerian team was investigating the two positives.

"We have already had discussions with the leadership of the Nigerian team, who are themselves very, very concerned about this matter. We are satisfied that they are taking this very seriously," Fennell said. "They are very concerned about this and they are doing their own investigations."

New classification

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recently loosened the classification of Methylhexaneamine for next year to the "specified stimulant" list, which covers drugs that are more susceptible to inadvertent use and can carry reduced penalties.

Sanctions for use of the drug can be reduced if athletes can prove they did not intend to enhance performance. Penalties can range from a warning to a two-year ban.

WADA said Methylhexaneamine was sold as a medicine until the early 1970s and has now reappeared in some nutritional supplements and cooking oils.

"We ourselves are concerned by the number of incidents that have cropped up with this same substance," Fennell said, noting that the change to Wada list does not go into effect until next year.

"Each year on the first of January, it becomes effective a new list. We are operating on the 2010 list," Fennell said. "Whatever changes were made this year will be effective next year, but we are operating under the 2010 list."