Former hurdler and now coach, Solomon Aliu said that Friday’s clearance by the Court of Arbitration for Sport of Tobi Amusan of any doping violation was like a burden off her shoulders and she can now focus on the Paris 2024 Olympics starting in late July.
Amusan, the world record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles with a time of 12.12seconds was charged with doping violation after allegedly missing two “whereabout” test by the World Athletics Integrity Unit in 2023. Though the AIU’s disciplinary tribunal panel overturned that decision days before the World Championships in Budapest last year. The AIU unsatisfied took the case to CAS for more arbitration. The 2022 world champion Amusan has denied taking performance enhancing substances.
CAS said in a media release on Friday that its panel unanimously found that Amusan had committed two filing failures but did not confirm a missed test that would have constituted her third “whereabouts failure.”
“The CAS clearance has put an end to the whole controversy swirling around her, she can now concentrate 100 percent,” said coach Aliu.
“The beauty of it is that it is coming a good six weeks to the Olympics, there that is enough training time.”
All eyes will now be on Amusan with a season’s best of 12.40sec as she competes in her third Olympic Games. She missed the podium by the whiskers in 2016 and 2020. But in Paris the gold is hers for the taking, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
“With her preparations so far and with the people working around her she can do better than she did in Oregon and win her first Olympics gold medal,” coach Aliu added.
