CJ Ujah: Team GB relay star Richard Kilty insists he will NEVER forgive team-mate for failed test

Richard Kilty says he will never be able to forgive team-mate CJ Ujah after his failed drug test meant they have been stripped of the Olympic silver won in last year’s sprint relay.

Ujah’s conviction for taking the banned substances Ostarine and S-23 was finally ratified on Friday, six months after that night in Tokyo when the pair combined with Zharnel Hughes and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake to reach the 4x100m podium.

The 27-year-old’s doping test in the immediate aftermath of that result came back positive for drugs that mimic testosterone and now three men are facing up to the gut-wrenching trauma of handing back medals because of his mistake.

Richard Kilty said he will never forgive his Team GB teammate  CJ Ujah for failing a drugs test

Ujah has blamed it on unknowingly consuming contaminated supplements and in time will learn his broader punishment, which could be a ban of up to four years.

But the true victims are enduring darker nights, with Kilty describing his stinging disappointment amid one of the most shameful episodes in British sporting history.

‘You know, what he’s done has been reckless,’ said Kilty, 32, via video call, his Olympic medal on a table a few inches away. ‘Everything has been a team effort to get to that position to be part of the British 4×100 strike four.

Kilty, alongside Ujah, won silver in the men’s relay at the Tokyo Olympics last summer

‘Now he’s made that mistake I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive him because me, Zharnel and Nethaneel have lost a medal at the hands of his mistakes.

‘CJ is ultimately going to be the one who is going to get banned himself — it is affecting his own career. But again we’ve worked so, so, so hard. We finally reached the pinnacle and won an Olympic medal, and then we lose it because one person has just been sloppy with what’s gone into their body. It’s heartbreaking.’

Kilty revealed that, since the scandal erupted two days after their relay run, there has been no contact with Ujah, beyond one Zoom call six weeks ago. In that call, they discussed Informed Sport, the body that provide certification of supplements, clearing them for use, and carries out batch testing. 

‘We had a Zoom call from him roughly six weeks ago,’ Kilty says. ‘We heard nothing from him in the first six or seven weeks. Didn’t have a clue. Then we had a Zoom call six weeks ago and he just said to us that he thinks it was in a supplement. As a team-mate I feel let down.

But the Team GB athletes have been stripped of their medals as a result of the failed test

‘For the last 20 years of my career — the same as the other two lads — we have worked our asses off.

‘We have followed the rules, in and out. I know for a fact that I’m never going to fail a drug test for two reasons. One, I don’t take drugs. Two, every supplement and everything that I put into my body, that’s on me and I make sure whatever goes into my body is checked.’

Kilty added: ‘From what I understand there were a number of different supplements he was taking. We do a 45-minute workshop before we go to the Olympic Games. You have to do it. It’s mandatory. And it explains that you only take Informed Sport supplements. Informed Sport supplements cannot be contaminated because they’re all tested.

Ujah was found to have ostarine and S-23 in his urine which can mimic the body’s testosterone

‘Only he knows the truth. Either way, it’s reckless. Sadly, it’s affected his career and three of our careers, our families, absolutely everything. It’s a tragedy for all of us involved.’

In a statement on Friday, Ujah said he will ‘regret’ this situation for the rest of his life. He blamed his failed test on a contaminated supplement although, under the strict liability rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency, that is no defence.

‘I accept the decision issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport with sadness,’ Ujah said. ‘I unknowingly consumed a contaminated supplement and this was the reason why an anti-doping rule violation occurred at the Tokyo Games.

‘I sincerely regret that this has inadvertently led to the forfeiture of the team’s silver medals. I would like to apologise to my team-mates, their families and support teams. That is something I will regret for the rest of my life.’

Kilty says even if Ujah escapes a lengthy ban, he will never run in a relay team with him again.

While he spoke, Kilty had his medal out in front of him, having mostly kept it on top of a kitchen cabinet since Tokyo. He added: ‘Me, Nathaneel and Zharnel have spoken quite a few times since it’s happened. We’re all gutted. We’re confused. My son is five and goes to school now. My nieces, nephews, everyone comes up to me and you know, the kids at school say, “Dad has had his medal taken”.

The 2021 incident is only the third time a Team GB athlete has lost a medal at the Olympics

‘I don’t even like dropping him off at school now because every parent in the schoolyard is talking to me. I’m having to constantly explain a situation which I don’t even really know anything about.

‘I could look him [Ujah] in the eye. But could he look me in the eye and tell the truth? That is the question. Only he knows the truth. Only he knows. He’s got to live with it.’

Kilty wants Ujah’s situation to serve as a warning to emerging British athletes.

He said: ‘From CJ’s point of view, it’s got to be an example to every young athlete in the country who comes on to the British team who wants to be an Olympian.

‘This has got to be an example of, “You are accountable for what goes into your body, check”. Because me, Nethaneel and Zharnel have been burned by a team-mate.’