Hurdling record holder Tobi Amusan’s whereabouts case heads to the Court of Arbitration for Sport
By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer
Anti-doping regulators are appealing a decision that exonerated world-record hurdler Tobi Amusan from a violation for missing drug tests that could have cost her a year or more out of the sport.
The Athletics Integrity Unit said Monday it filed its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport last week.
The AIU provisionally suspended Amusan for missing three tests in the span of a year, but an appeals panel overturned the suspension, which allowed her to compete earlier this summer at world championships, where she finished sixth.
“I’m here competing and that’s all that matters. Next,” she said, in a testy series of exchanges with reporters after the opening heats, when she was repeatedly asked whether the uncertainty had bothered her.
On Sunday, the Nigerian hurdler closed out the Diamond League season with a victory at the Prefontaine Classic.
On the same track in Eugene, Oregon, at worlds in 2022, Amusan shocked fans by running a world record 12.12 seconds in the 100 hurdles in the semifinal round. She won the gold in a time of 12.06 that did not go into the record books because the tailwind was too strong.
Two months ago, she took to social media to announce she had been accused of a so-called whereabouts violation. Elite athletes have to provide detailed logs of where they’ll be during parts of each day so they can be approached for “no-notice” tests. Those who miss three tests in the span of the year can be sanctioned.
Her suspension was lifted just before the championships, where AIU chair David Howman said an appeal to CAS was possible. He said the decision that cleared Amusan left AIU with “some concern that it might set a precedent that would make it difficult for future cases.”
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