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IAAF/AIMS Certify Access Bank Lagos City Marathon Route

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After six days’ hard work on and off the course, the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon route has been certified by the world governing body of athletics IAAF and Association of International Marathons and Distance Races, also known as AIMS which is the global body that governs marathons and road races.

The certificate was sent to the General Manager Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Yussuf Alli, over the weekend.

With the certification of its route by IAAF/AIMS, Access Bank Lagos City Marathon has now joined the league of global elite marathons like New York Marathon, London, Berlin, Tokyo and others.

This feat was achieved by the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon six months before its third edition and six month after its second edition as the first edition took place February 2016.

Course measurer, Norrie Williamson, an IAAF/AIMS Grade A measurer, was really impressed by the great work Alli, the General Manager has done.

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“Yussuf is a great guy; he has done a lot to take the Access Bank Lagos Marathon to this level from ground up. The enormous work he has done made the exercise fun’’.

Williamson, a course measurer since 1985, who measured the course for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 2000 Sydney Olympics, Athens 2004 Olympics and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games said the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon route is a very good course,

“The route is very good, it will be a delight to run on, I wish I were a runner again.”

Access Bank Lagos City Marathon Project Consultant Bukola Olopade said the certification of the route is the beginning of many great things to come,

“This is good for our race; I am highly delighted that our route has been certified by IAAF/AIMS.

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Sending a grade A course measurer like Williamson to Lagos shows how highly they rank our marathon. We thank the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, for believing in us and supporting this dream and ensuring that it has become a reality.

I also thank our title sponsor Access Bank and our other sponsors for their financial support. I am optimistic that we shall soon be a labelled race by IAAF.

Our aim and target is to be IAAF Gold Labelled within five years and remain the number one and the biggest one day event in Africa for many decades’’, said Olopade.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Athletics

Behold, CAS statement on Tobi Amusan

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Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan is the winner as the Court of Arbitration for Sports, CAS has rejected the appeals filed by World Athletics and  WADA.

The decision confirms the decision taken by the World Athletics disciplinary tribunal finding that Tobi Amusan did not commit any anti-doping rule violation.

Here is the full statement of CAS.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeals filed by

World Athletics (WA) and by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against the decision issued on 17 August 2023 (the Challenged Decision) by the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal (WADT) in relation to the hurdler Oluwatobiloba (Tobi) Amusan (Nigeria).

Accordingly, the Challenged Decision in which the WADT considered that Tobi Amusan did not violate Rule 2.4 of the WA Anti-Doping Rules (WA ADR) and that no period of ineligibility should be imposed on the Athlete is confirmed.

The Athlete was initially charged with committing an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) under Rule 2.4 WA ADR following three alleged Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period.

In their respective appeal to CAS, WA and WADA had sought the imposition of a two-year period of ineligibility. The CAS Panel held a hearing on 19 January 2024. Having deliberated, the CAS Panel has issued its decision today dismissing both appeals. The CAS Panel unanimously acknowledged that the Athlete committed two filing failures but did not confirm the existence of a missed test, alleged by WA and WADA, which would have been the third Whereabouts Failure committed within a 12-month

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period. Accordingly, the CAS Panel concluded that the Athlete did not commit an ADRV and that the Challenged Decision should be confirmed.

The reasoned award will be published by CAS unless the parties request confidentiality.

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Athletics

Tobi Amusan floors WADA and World Athletics!

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Tobi Amusan’s Trial Begins Today -

Nigeria’s Paris 2024 medal hopeful, Tobi Amusan has been cleared as the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the World Athletics.

 She is therefore cleared to feature at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Amusan is the 100m hurdles world record holder.

The athlete  was charged in July last year with missing three anti-doping tests in 12 months but was cleared of the offence by the Disciplinary Tribunal of the sport’s governing body, World Athletics.

The Integrity Unit of the World Athletics appealed the clearance which has now been dismissed by CAS, the final arbiter in the case.

CAS in its statement remarked that its panel “unanimously acknowledged that the athlete committed two filing failures but did not confirm the existence of a missed test, alleged by WA and WADA, which would have been the third Whereabouts Failure committed within 12 months.”

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Amusan set the world record of 12.12 seconds in the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, in July 2022 and went on to win the title.

She finished sixth in the world championships in Budapest last year.

World Athletics’ anti-doping rules say any athlete failing to declare their whereabouts for a doping test on three occasions over 12 months is ineligible to compete for two years.

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Athletics

Tobi Amusan thanks God for success at CAS in doping case

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An elated Nigeria’s 100m hurdles world record holder, Tobi Amusan has thanked God for her success in an appeal filled against her by the Athletics Integrity Unit  of the World Athletics.

Had the appeal been upheld, ,Amusan would  have has to miss the Paris 2024 Olymoics.

“It’s ALL GOD” Amusan said in an Instagram post alongside the court’s announcement.

Amusan, who broke the world record during her semi-final race at the 2022 world championships, is a hot favourite in her signature event at the Paris Olympics, which begin on July 26.

World Athletics and WADA did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

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