VAM News Update
Following her suspension by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for missing drug tests, Oluwatobiloba Amusan has vowed to challenge and resolve the charges against her before next month’s World Athletics Championship in Budapest.
According to Amusan, she is a clean athlete and regularly tested by the AIU.
The 26-year-old is looking to defend her title at next month’s World Athletics Championship in Budapest.
Recall Amusan revealed in the early hours of Wednesday that she had been charged with an alleged rule violation for missing three drug tests in the span of 12 months.
She wrote on her Instagram handle.: “Today the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has charged me with an alleged rule violation for having 3 missed tests in 12 months.
“I am a CLEAN athlete, and I am regularly (maybe more than usual) tested by the AIU,” she wrote, in referencing the Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees doping issues in international track and is the agency that charged her with the violation.
She said, “Today the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has charged me with an alleged rule violation for having 3 missed tests in 12 months.
“I intend to fight this charge and will have my case decided by a tribunal of 3 arbitrators before the start of next month’s World Championships.”
According to the AIU, an athlete who misses tests within a period of 12 months is guilty of anti-doping rule violation, and the penalty includes suspension for two years, which may be reduced to a minimum of one year depending on the degree of fault.
Missing three doping tests can result in a two-year ban, though exceptions can be made for different circumstances.
Amusan enjoyed a superb run of form and set the current world record for the women’s 100m hurdles of 12.12 seconds at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Oregon and a World title that followed in a record time of 12.06, but that time did not go into the record books because there was too strong a tailwind.
“When I watched the record, I was like ‘Whoa, who did that?’” Amusan said of her reaction upon seeing her time pop up on the scoreboard.
She also retained her Commonwealth Games title with a new Games’ record of 12.30s and defended her Diamond League title in a record-breaking season that saw her set impressive records and win the Nigerian, African, Commonwealth, World, and Diamond League titles.
