On this day in 2007: Christine Ohuruogu wins appeal against Olympic ban

The 400 metre runner went on to claim Olympic gold in 2008.

Pa Sport Staff
Monday 27 November 2023 01:00 EST
Great Britain’s Christine Ohuruogu successfully appealed a lifetime athletics ban for missing three drugs tests (Dave Thompson/PA)
Great Britain’s Christine Ohuruogu successfully appealed a lifetime athletics ban for missing three drugs tests (Dave Thompson/PA) (PA Archive)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Christine Ohuruogu won an appeal against her lifetime Olympic ban for missing three out-of-competition drugs tests on this day in 2007.

The then 23-year-old Londoner took her case to a Sports Dispute Resolutions Panel and successfully overturned a British Olympic Association by-law precluding athletes found guilty of drug-test offences from competing in future Games.

Ohuruogu, who in August had sensationally won the 400 metres world championship title just three weeks after finishing a one-year suspension, was now clear to compete in Beijing the following year.

A statement from the BOA said: “The appeals panel unanimously agreed that the written evidence supplemented by the answers given by both parties at the oral hearing provided the necessary information to take an early decision in Christine Ohuruogu’s appeal.

“It was agreed that any delay in making the decision would not be in the interests of any of the involved parties.

“The panel decided that Christine Ohuruogu’s appeal had been successful due to significant mitigating circumstances.”

Ohuruogu went on to win 400m gold at the Beijing Olympics.

A near perfect race saw Ohuruogu run a season’s best time of 50.80sec to claim Britain’s only gold medal on the track.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in