CAS to give Clunis her answer today

JAMAICAN HAMMER thrower Nayoka Clunis will know for better or worse whether or not she will have a place at the Paris Olympics today.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) Ad Hoc Panel, which met over the issue on Saturday, yesterday extended its deadline for a decision until today.

The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) and the Jamaica Olympic Association have appeared as interested parties in the matter, where Clunis, after being told she was part of the country’s team to the Paris games, was to find out later that an administrative mistake meant that she had no place.

Reports are that Clunis’ name was not put on a long list of potential entrants to World Athletics and, therefore, her potential slot was filled.

Clunis is being represented by Dr Emir Crowne and Sayeed Bernard, while Ben Cisneros appeared for the JAAA, Ian Wilkinson (KC) for the JOA, Catherine Pitre for World Athletics, and Antonio Rigozzi for the International Olympic Committee.

Clunis qualified for the Olympics because her best throw this year, 71.93 metres done in May, would have made her one of the 32 best throwers in the world.

The CAS ad hoc division’s arbitrators are the Honourable Annabelle Bennett QC, SC of Australia as president, along with Ms Carline Dupeyron of France and Ms Kristen Thorness Oly of the United States.

The group indicated that it would have responded yesterday, but the complexity of the case has forced further deliberation.

According to Crowne, Clunis was forced into appealing to the CAS after she was greeted with silence from the JAAA.

The JAAA had, at first, been given a deadline to respond to Clunis’ lawyers, but when none was forthcoming, Crowne and Bernard made the appeal.