Amusan missing as AFN releases World Championships list

<p>World women’s 100m hurdles champion and record holder Tobi Amusan was conspicuously missing from Team Nigeria’s list of 26 athletes to the World Athletics Championships, which was released by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria on Tuesday.</p>, <p>The list has 11 male and 15 female athletes for the championships, which holds from August 19 to 27 in Budapest, Hungary</p>, <p>Silver medallist at last year’s championships Ese Brume will hope to upgrade to a gold in Budapest. She will be joined in the long jump event by Ruth Usoro. Sade Olatoye (Hammer) and Chioma Onyekwere (Discuss) are also among the prominent females on the AFN list.</p>, <p>National champion Usheoritshe Itshekiri, Favour Ashe, Seye Ogunlewe, Alaba Akintola, Fakorede Adekalu and Anunagba Karlington will be spread across the men’s 100m and 4x100m relay races, just as Rosemary Chukwuma, Favour Ofili, Faith Okwose, Justina Eyakpobeyan and Success Umukoro will compete in the women’s 100m and 4x100m event.</p>, <p>While the list has a lot of medal hopefuls for Nigeria, the AFN is still in a nervous wait over Amusan’s fate.</p>, <p>The hurdler’s participation at the championship has been uncertain after she was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit for missing three drug tests this season, one month to the championships.</p>, <p>While the AIU also stated that there would be a hearing on her case before the World Championships, she also vowed to fight the charges and prove her innocence, but nothing has been heard about the proceedings, with just 10 days to this year’s championships.</p>, <p>Technical Director of the AFN Samuel Onikeku told The PUNCH that it was only the AIU who could give an update about Amusan.</p>, <p>“We have perfected the list and it has been released. But unfortunately, it is the AIU who can comment on Amusan’s case,” Onikeku told our correspondent.</p>, <p>However, sources at the AFN said Amusan’s name was included on the list sent to the World Athletics with the hope that the hurdler would be cleared to compe