UK Athletics boss defends shock decision to include CJ Ujah in GB relay squad
The boss of UK Athletics has defended the shock decision to include sprinter CJ Ujah in Britain’s squad for next month’s World Athletics relays.
Mr Ujah failed a drugs test which lead to Team GB's 4x100m relay team being stripped of its silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
He subsequently served a 22-month ban for taking a contaminated supplement.
Jack Buckner, the UKA CEO, told ITV News there had been some difficult conversations with members of the team who had to hand back their silver medals.
UK Athletics CEO Jack Buckner won't be drawn on whether, ethically, he agrees with the shock decision to include CJ Ujah in the UK sprint squad
He said: “In the past, this sport hasn’t been very good at moving on and focusing on the future, so absolutely I think it’s difficult and really challenging for everyone involved, but we have to stick by the World Athletics rules.”
Mr Buckner said there has been no legal pressure to include Mr Ujah, but when asked whether he was comfortable with the decision on ethical grounds, he was non-committal.
"That is a very hard question, and I would say it’s a difficult judgment call to make, and I’m not prepared to go one way or the other on that," he said.
Richard Kilty, who was part of the Tokyo silver winning team and is also in the current squad, told ITV News after Mr Ujah’s failed doping test that he should never be allowed to compete in the Olympics again.
At the time, he said he’d never forgive Mr Ujah as his actions had “ruined my life and my teammates life.”
The decision has been down to Darren Campbell, the UKA’s sprint coach to broker peace among the squad, which also includes other Tokyo silver medalists Zharnel Hughes and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake.
Mr Buckner said: “Darren Campbell has done a really amazing job in having lots of really difficult conversations with everyone involved.
“The fact that if you look at the squad they are all out there in the Bahamas together and the fact that they are all going out there together indicates they are prepared to work through this.
"Richard Kilty is a great athlete, there are lots of strong personalities and they are going out and prepping as a team and I just think it’s a tremendous effort by Darren and a tribute to them as individuals.
“It is complex, it is difficult, but I think they have done a really good job in preparing in this way.”
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