Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Stawell Gift winner Olufemi Komolafe has been stripped of the title and the $40,000 prize after a positive drug test.
Sport Integrity Australia has also banned the 21-year-old medical student from Adelaide for 12 months for having an illegal substance in his body from ADHD medication.
The ban was downgraded from four years due to Komolafe being unaware that the substance was in the medication and having informed testers on the day he was taking the ADHD pills.
The young sprinter’s coach, Paul Young, who won the Gift in 1985, revealed that Komolafe had started taking the medication on the advice of his sister, a doctor, to help with his university studies.
“He was struggling with his studies; his parents are doctors, his sister and brother are doctors, so there is pressure to be a high achiever. He took the medication to help him focus on his studies, and he’s been on it ever since,” Young told the Herald Sun on Wednesday.
“He just kept taking it, as he certainly didn’t think it was going to affect his athletics. He was upfront from the start; he told the testers on the day that he was taking it.
“In all the literature I’ve seen about the drug, it confirms it has no performance-enhancing qualities for sprinting, it doesn’t make you faster, it doesn’t make you fitter, it doesn’t make you stronger, it’s purely to help you focus, which he needed for his studies.”
The result sees Jake Ireland claim the top prize after finishing second on the day, a result he also achieved in 2024.
The Ireland’s have been chasing the Gift for 40 years starting with Todd, Jake’s father, who made three appearances.
Komolafe won the 144th edition of the Gift off a handicap of 5m in 11.93sec but is now banned from running until July 2 next year.
