Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, who on Thursday in Budapest lost to Danielle Williams of Jamaica for the global women’s 100m hurdles title, promises to return “stronger” the following year.
Amusan stated it was quite “a journey getting into the final” considering everything she had been through in the previous few weeks in a post-game interview with journalists.
“It has been God, my team and my family,” the 2022 gold winner told reporters.
She thanked all of her supporters for sticking by her through the highs and lows and vowed to come back stronger.
“Yeah, it’s a tough one; nobody likes to lose but considering what I have gone through in the past couple of months, I’m so grateful that I came out,” she said.
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico, the reigning Olympic champion, finished second in 12.44 seconds, while 30-year-old Williams took first place in Beijing in 2015. American Kendra Harrison finished third in 12.46 seconds.
Amusan, who placed sixth, and 2019 winner Nia Ali, who placed last, were never in contention.
Prior to the event, Amusan’s provisional suspension was lifted after she was found not guilty of drug offences.
The Nigerian track and field athlete was temporarily suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) last month as a result of three missed whereabouts failures.
Following the discovery that Amusan had failed three drug tests in the previous 12 months, the suspension was made public. Even if an athlete has never failed a drug test, this offense carries a two-year suspension.
Ultimately, the Disciplinary Tribunal announced the verdict which stated, “Tobi Amusan has not committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) of three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period”.