Texts, pictures lead to 1st doping case under new US law

By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer

DENVER (AP) — A doctor in Texas became the first person to be charged under a landmark U.S. law designed to add legal accountability to a global anti-doping system that has long struggled to regulate itself. Federal authorities charged Eric Lira with distributing human growth hormone and other drugs for the purpose of corrupting the Tokyo Olympics. Evidence shows Lira provided the drugs to Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare, who was suspended before the 100-meter semifinals in Tokyo. Okagbare’s country has been under the microscope for a long series of doping problems. The Rodchenkov Act was passed in the U.S. in 2020 with the hope of bringing legal consequences to those who fund and promote widespread doping conspiracies across the globe.