Banned Botswana runner wants to sell Olympic silver medal to support family
Nijel Amos said he is selling Botswana’s first Olympic medal, his 800m silver from the 2012 London Games, to help support his family after he received a three-year doping ban last week.
The Athletics Integrity Unit said it banned Amos for three years on May 3 after an out-of-competition test detected a banned metabolite in his urine sample. The ban was reduced from four years after Amos signed an admission, it added.
Amos said he signed the admission on the advice of his legal team.
“Given the circumstances surrounding the case, my legal team and I saw it fit to take that direction so that I get a reduction on my ban,” he added.
The drug found in the 29-year-old’s system, GW1516, modifies how the body metabolises fat, and the World Anti-Doping Agency has said it poses a health risk to athletes.
“At this time, my only investment or pension is the famous 2012 Olympic silver medal,” Amos told reporters in Botswana on Tuesday.
“I am in touch with different stakeholders, including financial advisors, on how that can sustain me and my family.
“I met with a team that wants to buy it with a value of 4.5m Botswana pulas ($339 750), but with my documentary coming out on Netflix it could change the value to 7.5 million.”
Amos’s silver at the London Games was Botswana’s first medal of any colour at an Olympics. The African nation went on to win a bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
He said he plans to return to the track after serving his ban, which ends in July 2025.
“I have no plans to retire,” Amos said. “I am still in good shape and I am hopeful that I will rise again in the World Championships in 2025.” —Reuters
