Medalist Chika Amalaha Tested Positive To Drugs Because She Drank 'Zobo', Says Coach

The Treasurer of Nigeria Weightlifting Coaches Association, Andrew Ekanem, has claimed Chika Amalaha who was stripped of her gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games after failing a drug test, might have gotten the prohibited substance from her consistent drinking of a local drink called ‘Zobo’.

                                                                                   Chika Amalaha

According to PM News, Ekanem made this revelation during an interview with Brila FM.
Ekanem said Amalaha had been warned on several occasions against drinking ‘Zobo’ but she turned a deaf ear.

He said: “It was unfortunate that Amalaha was stripped of the medal she won at the Commonwealth Games, I could recall that after she was warned against drinking ‘Zobo’ after the  African Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana last May where she won three gold medals, when we returned to Abuja for camping ahead of the Commonwealth Games, she still sneaked out to drink ‘Zobo’ again.”
Ekanem believes Amalaha was the architect of her own misfortune by drinking ‘zobo’.

16-year-old Nigerian weightlifter Chika Amalaha made Nigeria proud as the first athlete to win gold at the just concluded 2014 Commonwealth Games which held in Glasgow, UK. She won the women’s 53kg competition but unfortunately, she was striped of her medal as she tested positive to drugs.
According to the International Weightlifting Federation, she was the youngest woman to win a weightlifting title in the Games history.(naij.com)