Hurdles world champion Tobi Amusan defiant after provisional ban for missed drugs tests

Amusan has denied taking performance enhancing drugs

Tobi Amusan celebrates after clinching world gold in Eugene last year (AP)

Tobi Amusan, the 100m hurdles world record holder, said on Wednesday she has been charged with missing three doping tests but has denied taking performance enhancing substances and expects to be cleared to compete at the world championships.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said Amusan had been provisionally suspended due to three “whereabouts failures” and that the charge would be heard by the Disciplinary Tribunal and determined before the Aug. 19-27 championships in Budapest.

“I am a clean athlete, and I am regularly, (maybe more than the usual) tested by the AIU - I was tested within days of my third ‘missed test’,” the Nigerian wrote on Instagram.

“I have faith that this will be resolved in my favour and that I will be competing at the world championships in August.”

The 26-year-old said her case will be decided by a tribunal of three arbitrators.

Under World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules, the applicable sanction for three ‘whereabouts’ failures is two years’ ineligibility, subject to a reduction to a minimum of one year depending on an athlete’s degree of fault.

Athletics has a three-strikes rule that states if an athlete does not provide accurate whereabouts information for a doping test they may incur a declaration of a missed test, or a filing failure.

Three strikes in a 12-month period is an anti-doping violation.

Amusan won the Silesia Diamond League meet on Sunday, her second Diamond League victory this season.

She became the first Nigerian world champion and world record holder in an athletics event with her 2022 victory in Eugene, Ore., where she set the world record of 12.12 seconds.

Amusan was part of Nigeria’s 4x100 relay squad that won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games but were then stripped of their medal after anchor runner Grace Nwokocha failed a doping test.

Reuters