CJ Ujah's failed doping test has left the GB 4x100m relay team without Olympic silver for three years. back Photo: PA/Martin Rickett
CJ Uja, whose failed drug test cost Great Britain an Olympic silver medal, will return to major international competition for the first time on Friday at the European Athletics Championships in Rome.
< p>Originally Ujah was unable to compete at those championships but was named to the squad for both the men's 100m and 4x100m relay on Thursday after Jeremiah Azou left the team.
Richard Kielty, one of Uji's team, three years ago said proudly that he would never be able to forgive what he called Uji's “careless” and “reckless” behavior after the British quartet won silver in the 4x100m, but later lost his medals.
Uja served a 22-month ban for a positive test that was found to be inadvertently caused by contaminated amino acid purchased on Amazon, and apologized to his teammates.
After impressive performances at the start of the season, the 30-year-old was brought back into the team in the spring, with Jack Buckner, chief executive of UK Athletics, saying it was best to face the “incredibly difficult” situation at the start of this Olympic year.
“We have to plan for every possible situation,” Buckner said. “There are massive personalities. I'd rather we face it openly and openly right now.”
Buckner also referred to the “huge mess” in Budapest last summer when Reece Prescod dropped out of the 4x100m relay team after not being included in the training earlier in the year.
Uja will compete in the 100m on Friday. and is involved in a wider range of action, including Tokyo Olympic champion Marcel Jacobs competing in front of fans in Italy.
Johnson-Thompson renews rivalry with Thiam
Britain's main focus on Friday will be on Katarina Johnson-Thompson's big showdown with Belgian double Olympic champion Nafi Thiam in the heptathlon.
Last summer, Johnson-Thompson made a stunning comeback to reclaim the world title in a tournament that did not include Thiam, who is also a two-time world champion herself.
Both athletes will be looking to peak in Paris in August when Thiam, already the only heptathlete along with Jackie Joyner Quersee to win back-to-back Olympic titles, will try to make it three golds in a row. Britain has a strong tradition in women's all-around athletics, with Mary Peters, Denise Lewis and Jessica Ennis-Hill all former Olympic champions in the pentathlon and heptathlon.
Johnson-Thompson also beat a team that included Thiam five years ago when she won the 2019 world title in Doha.
“Nafi is one of the greatest athletes of our generation, all the time,” Johnson-Thompson said. “I don’t think people talk about this enough. Her presence on the field will definitely improve everyone's level of play.
“I feel good. I hope this turns out to be a good performance. This is my first heptathlon of the year. In two days we will know whether the training is going well.
“My hopes and expectations are that I will be able to show the results that my training shows.
“ I know that training is going well, but heptathlon always feels like spinning plates. Some things are going well here, and some things are not going well. I just want to put everything together, see what I can get and work on it for the rest of the season.”
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