Tobi Amusan, Nigeria’s 100m hurdles world record holder, has been cleared to compete in the Paris Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed doping appeals against her. Nigerians reacted with a mix of joy and skepticism on social media following the announcement.
Nigeria’s 100m hurdles world record holder, Tobi Amusan, has been cleared to compete in the Paris Olympics after the sport’s top court dismissed appeals against a decision clearing her of a doping offense. Amusan, 27, was initially charged in July 2023 for missing three anti-doping tests within 12 months. However, the Disciplinary Tribunal of World Athletics, the sport’s governing body, cleared her of any wrongdoing.
Following this, both World Athletics and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the tribunal’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In a statement released on Friday, CAS announced that its panel unanimously found Amusan committed two filing failures but did not confirm the existence of a missed test, as alleged by World Athletics and WADA. This would have constituted a third "Whereabouts Failure" within 12 months, which under World Athletics’ anti-doping rules, would have rendered her ineligible to compete for two years.
Amusan set the world record of 12.12 seconds at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in July 2022 and subsequently won the title. Despite the doping allegations, she managed to finish sixth in the World Championships in Budapest last year.
The news of Amusan’s clearance has sparked a wave of reactions from Nigerians. Many took to social media to express their joy and support for the athlete.
