Amusan Free To Run In Paris Games – CAS

0
85

…As CAS Rejects Appeals Filed By World Athletics And WADA

By Maxwell Kumoye

Nigeria’s 100m hurdles world record holder Tobi Amusan has been cleared to run at the Paris Olympics.

This cheering news came after sport’s top court, Court of Arbitration for Sports dismissed appeals against the decision to clear her of a doping offence.

The CAS Panel held a hearing on 19 January 2024. Having deliberated, the CAS Panel has issued its decision Friday dismissing both appeals.

27 year old Amusan, was charged in July 2023 with missing three anti-doping tests in a period of 12 months, but was cleared of the offence by the Disciplinary Tribunal of the sport’s governing body, World Athletics.

tobi-amusan
Tobi Amusan

However, World Athletics and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against that decision.

Accordingly, the Challenged Decision in which the WADT considered that Amusan did not violate Rule 2.4 of the WA Anti-Doping Rules (WA ADR) and that no period of ineligibility should be imposed on the Athlete is confirmed.

The Athlete was initially charged with committing an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) under Rule 2.4 WA ADR following three alleged Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period. In their respective appeal to CAS, WA and WADA had sought the imposition of a two-year period of ineligibility.

CAS said in a statement 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 a 12 month period.”

Amusan set the world record of 12.12 seconds at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, in July 2022 and went on to win the title.

She finished sixth in the world championships in Budapest last year.

athletics-Olympics

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