CJ Ujah set to represent Great Britain for the first time since returning from doping ban after getting late call up for European Championships

CJ Ujah will run in a Great Britain vest on Friday night for the first time since he returned from his doping ban after getting an 11th-hour call-up to the European Championships.

The 30-year-old will take his place in the 100 metres heats in Rome having been drafted in as a late replacement for the injured Jeremiah Azu on Thursday.

Ujah has not competed for his country since the 4x100m relay at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, when the GB team finished second but then lost their silver medal after he failed a drugs test.

The London sprinter was later cleared of intentionally doping after it was ruled he had taken a contaminated substance, but he was still banned for 22 months in October 2022, which was backdated from August 2021.

Ujah came back from his ban last year and was picked in Britain’s squad for last month’s World Relays in the Bahamas but did not feature in either of their two races.

Darren Campbell told Mail Sport that there are no rules that say he can’t select Ujah 

He initially turned down a relay spot in Rome having not been picked to run the individual 100m. However, after British record holder Zharnel Hughes withdrew from the team on Monday, then Azu — the fastest man in Europe this year — followed suit on Thursday, Ujah will now run in both the 100m and 4x100m relay in Rome.

Ujah’s best time this year is 10.07sec, which is outside the Olympic qualifying standard of 10sec and puts him sixth in the British rankings this year.

But a strong showing at the Stadio Olympico could at the very least help push his case for a relay place in Paris, which would be Team GB’s most contentious selection of the summer given the fall-out from Tokyo.

‘There are no rules that say I can’t pick CJ,’ Darren Campbell, Britain’s head of sprints and relays told Mail Sport last month. ‘Everybody has the right to represent Great Britain.’

Ujah will be involved in the 100 metres heats in Rome after replacing the injured Jeremiah Azu

The first day in Rome also sees world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson begin her quest for a first European title.

In what is a dress rehearsal for Paris, the British star will be up against Belgium’s double Olympic and European champion Nafi Thiam, who missed last year’s World Championships through injury.

‘Nafi is one of the greatest athletes of all time,’ admitted Johnson-Thompson. ‘To have her in the field is going to raise everybody else’s game. I’m feeling really motivated. It’s a title I haven’t won and a title I would like to have.’