“At this point I am here at the championship" Tobi Amusan stays focused for 100m hurdles semi-final, amidst doping controversy

26-year-old Tobi Amusan’s only focus right now is her performance at the semi-finals of the women’s 100m hurdles at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. The Nigerian athlete has been experiencing doping allegations before the championship in Budapest. However, she has temporarily been lifted from the suspension.

Days before the commencement of the world championship, Tobi Amusan was accused of missing three doping tests over a period of 12 months. However, Amusan defended herself at the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) disciplinary tribunal hearing. It found that the 2022 world champion had not violated anti-doping rules.

However, AIU was disappointed with the decision. In a statement, AIU said:

"A panel of the disciplinary tribunal, by majority decision, has today found that Tobi Amusan has not committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation of three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period."

"AIU head Brett Clothier has indicated the AIU is disappointed by this decision and will review the reasoning in detail before deciding whether to exercise its right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport."

However, Tobi Amusan received a provisional anti-doping suspension lift on August 17 to defend her title at the ongoing world championship.

The Nigerian athlete made the most of temporarily coming out of the controversy at the qualifying heat in the women's 100-meter hurdles on Tuesday. She clocked an impressive 12.48 seconds, which was the third fastest timing at the race.

Being proud of qualifying for the semi-finals scheduled to be on Day 5, August 23. Later on, when Amsan asked about how she was managing to stay focused while leaving behind the AIU controversy, she stated:

“At this point I am here at the championship, so I am here for what needs to be done”

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Sha’Carri Richardson supported Tobi Amusan amidst the anti-doping controversy

Amusan at Weltklasse Zurich 2022 - Diamond League

After Tobi Amusan’s anti-doping controversy made headlines in July, media and trollers rushed to report and jump to conclusions. However, amidst the negativity that Amusan was receiving, American athlete Sha’Carri Richardson supported Amusan strongly.

She shared a picture of the athlete on her Instagram story and captioned it:

"If u don't know which a lot of y'all do not, SHUT UP,"

Nevertheless, the Nigerian athlete took a stand for herself as well. On July 19, she shared an Instagram post, expressing that she was ready to fight back against the allegations.

"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,"

Tobi Amusan also expressed that she had full faith that she would be defending her title at the 2023 World Championship. At last, she requested the media to respect her privacy.