Budapest 23: Amusan omission from 100 Hurdles preview not a good omen

In the World Athletics preview of the 100m hurdles event of the Budapest 2023 World Championships, the only comment about defending champion and World Record holder was, “Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, who won the world title last year in Oregon, is also among the entries but her participation is pending a decision from the Athletics Integrity Unit, following her anti-doping suspension for three whereabouts failures.”

With the championships scheduled to start August 19, counting Amusan out as medal contender is not a good sign, given her current circumstances.

Counted as contenders are Nia Ali and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn – who have clashed 17 times since the start of the 2022 season. The World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 gives them the chance to go head-to-head again, as USA’s Ali looks to regain the title she won in 2019 and Puerto Rico’s Camacho-Quinn goes for another global gold to add to the Olympic crown she claimed in Tokyo.

Ali is the world leader with the 12.30 personal best she achieved to win in Monaco on July 21, the 34-year-old improving her previous best set when winning her world title in Doha by 0.04. That was one of the occasions where she wasn’t up against Camacho-Quinn, however, and it’s the Puerto Rican who leads their career head-to-head tally, having got the upper hand in each of their races.

With Ali in the form of her life, and Camacho-Quinn just 0.01 behind her on this season’s top list, a brilliant battle could be in store. The competition in Monaco was Ali’s first-ever Diamond League win in a career that features 2016 Olympic silver and two world indoor 60m hurdles titles alongside her 2019 world gold. Camacho-Quinn, meanwhile, has multiple Diamond League wins to her name and has triumphed in Doha and Lausanne as part of an unbeaten season of 10 races so far. In addition to her Olympic title, the 26-year-old claimed world bronze in Oregon last year and set her PB of 12.26 in the semifinals of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Harrison may cause an upset

Kendra Harrison will be looking to deny them both. The former world record-holder, who clocked 12.20 in London in 2016, is tied with Camacho-Quinn at No.2 on this season’s top list with the 12.31 she ran to finish runner-up to Ali in Monaco. She was also second to Ali at the US Championships and has finished in the top two in each of her 10 races this season. Her aim will be to continue that pattern, but go one better than the silver medals she earned at the 2019 World Championships, behind Ali, and Tokyo Olympics, behind Camacho-Quinn.

Jamaican athletes were third in both of those global finals – Megan Tapper getting bronze in Tokyo and Danielle Williams taking a place on the podium in Doha – and they both compete again, joined by rising talent Ackera Nugent, the 21-year-old NCAA champion, who won world U20 gold in 2021. Joining Ali and Harrison on the US team is Masai Russell, who finished second to Nugent in the NCAA final, the pair clocking respective wind-assisted times of 12.25 and 12.32.

Ditaji Kambundji has also dipped under 12.50 this year, running a Swiss record of 12.47 in Bern at the start of this month. She finished third behind Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska and Hungary’s Luca Kozak at the European Championships last year and both of those athletes are entered, Skrzyszowska as she continues her comeback after injury and Kozak, who is a home star.

Others looking to make an impact will be France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela and Bahamian Devynne Charlton, who were top two at last year’s World Indoor Championships, plus Dutch record-holder Nadine Visser and Ireland’s Sarah Lavin.

As Nigerians wait for AIU's decision, If Amusan is cleared or pardoned to compete at the championships she will definitely make a podium appearance.