Doping: CAS clears Tobi Amusan ahead of Paris 2024 Olympics

Tobi Amusan, Nigeria’s 100m hurdles world record holder, has been cleared to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed doping appeals against her.

Amusan, a 27-year-old hurdler, was initially charged in July 2023 with missing three anti-doping tests within 12 months. However, the Disciplinary Tribunal of World Athletics cleared her of the offence. The World Athletics and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed this decision to the CAS.

In its ruling, CAS stated that its panel “unanimously acknowledged that the athlete committed two filing failures but did not confirm the existence of a missed test, alleged by WA and WADA, which would have been the third Whereabouts Failure committed within 12 months.”

The CAS upheld the earlier verdict by the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal, confirming that Amusan did not violate any anti-doping rules.

The world record holder had been suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for missing three drug tests in 12 months, and the AIU sought two years of ineligibility for her. However, the suspension was overturned, allowing Amusan to compete in the 2023 World Athletics Championship.

According to World Athletics’ anti-doping rules, any athlete failing to declare their whereabouts for a doping test on three occasions over 12 months is ineligible to compete for two years.

The CAS decision marks the end of a legal process that began with the Disciplinary Tribunal of World Athletics’ initial decision on August 17, 2023. The ruling concluded that while Amusan “committed two filing failures,” the panel did not find sufficient evidence of a third missed test.

As a result, Amusan has now been cleared to represent Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Olympics which begins in July.

Amusan set the world record of 12.12 seconds at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in July 2022. She finished sixth in the World Championships in Budapest last year.

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