Nijel Amos, who won Olympic silver in the greatest 800m race in history at London 2012, has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit after a positive test.
The 28-year-old from Botswana was on the start list for the 800m at this week’s World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, but will now not take part.
This is because Amos returned a positive test – for metabolites of GW1516, a substance that is prohibited under the 2022 WADA Prohibited List as a metabolic modulator – on June 4.
According to the AIU, GW1516 is not an approved substance for human use and WADA has advised of its health risks for athletes. They add that it’s there to treat obesity, diabetes and other disorders caused by metabolic problems.
“The AIU collected the sample from Mr Amos during an out-of-competition test on the 4 June 2022,” the statement read. “The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory that analysed the sample notified the AIU of the adverse analytical finding today, 12 July 2022.
“The athlete was notified of the adverse analytical finding and his mandatory provisional suspension this afternoon in Eugene. He was scheduled to participate in the 800m heats on 20 July.”
Amos is an Olympic silver medallist, Commonwealth champion and triple African champion over 800m.
He holds the record for the fastest losing time in an 800m race, when his 1:41.73 – which puts him joint third on the all-time list with Sebastian Coe – wasn’t enough to stop an utterly imperious David Rudisha at London 2012. Rudisha clocked a stunning world record of 1:40.91, a mark that no one has got close to today.
Amos was 18 when he ran his 1:41.73 in London and it still stands as the world under-20 record.
A decade on, he went into the World Championships in Oregon with a season’s best of 1:44.92. Amos finished eighth in the Olympic 800m final in Tokyo, although he did record last year’s world lead of 1:42.91 at the Monaco Diamond League.
