BREAKING: Tobi Amusan Cleared to Compete at Budapest 2023 Championships
World Women’s 100m hurdles champion and record holder, Tobi Amusan has been given the green light to compete at the upcoming World Athletics Championships set to begin this Saturday in Budapest, Hungary.
Platforms Africa reports that a tweet posted by Athletics Integrity Unit on X (Twitter) reads, “A panel of the Disciplinary Tribunal, by majority decision, has today found that Tobi Amusan has not committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) of three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period.
“AIU Head Brett Clothier has indicated the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) is disappointed by this decision and will review the reasoning in detail before deciding whether to exercise its right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within the applicable deadline.”
Recall the 26-year-old athlete faced charges of three whereabouts failures, which constitutes an anti-doping rule violation for missing three out-of-competition tests within a 12-month period. Amusan had contested this charge.
Recent news from the Athletics Federation of Nigeria has confirmed that Tobi Amusan, the world record holder in the 100m hurdles, has been cleared of the charges. Consequently, she will now proceed to Budapest to defend the significant gold medal she earned last year at the 18th edition of the Championships.
This clearance provides Amusan with the opportunity to defend the only title in her career that she has yet to defend, following her successful retention of her Nigeria, African Championships, African Games, Commonwealth Games, and Diamond League titles.
Reports indicate that a tribunal of three arbitrators absolved Amusan of two out of the three missed tests, after the Nigerian athlete argued that the tester had not made sufficient efforts to locate her.
Notably, throughout this process, Amusan consistently maintained her innocence and stated that she is a clean athlete. She even mentioned on her Facebook page last month, “I have faith that this will be resolved in my favour and that I will be competing at the World Championships in August.”
