Oregon 2022: Double joy for Amusan as she breaks the world record twice, wins gold, Brume Silver
Sunday, July 24, 2022, will be etched in stone forever in the history of Nigeria athletics, nay sports.
On that day in faraway Oregon, USA Tobiloba Amusan a Team Nigeria 100m hurdler achieved many firsts.
On Sunday Amusan become the first athlete to break the world record twice within a few hours.
First in the semi-final and again in the final of the women’s 100m hurdles.
Amusan also became the first Nigerian athlete since the inaugural edition of the World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland in 1983 to win a gold medal in any event.
Considered an outsider, favoured to make the podium ahead of Amusan are the likes of Kendra Harrison, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Megan Tapper,
Amusan did not listen to athletics aficionados’ forecast she probably had an inkling of what will happen on Sunday when she said a few days to the start of her event, ‘I will be competing in the 100m hurdles tomorrow, July 23rd at around 7 pm Nigerian time and you can watch live on Supersport Channel 208.
‘’This will be my 3rd appearance at the World Champs. I was a semifinalist in London in 2017, finished 4th in Doha in 2019 and by God’s grace, I will be on the podium this year.
‘’Keep me in your prayers and do have a great weekend’’
God actually answered the prayers of Nigerians and rewarded Amusan’s hard work as she sped to a 12.12 (0.9m/s) clocking in her semifinal to break the world 100m hurdles record.
She had earlier set an African record of 12.40 on Saturday to win her heat, the fastest first-round time in World Championships history.
But even so, few would have predicted that the 25-year-old was in form to challenge the world record of 12.20 set by USA's Kendra Harrison in 2016.
"I wanted to get out and go," said Amusan. "I did what I had to do. Now I'm looking forward to the finals."
Harrison, who was also in Amusan's heat, finished second in 12.27, the third-fastest time of her career, and 2015 world champion Danielle Williams was third in 12.41.
Five of the eight athletes set lifetime bests, with Cindy Sember clocking a British record of 12.50, Michelle Jenneke of Australia running 12.66 in fifth and Ditaji Kambundji recording 12.70 in sixth.
In the finals, Amusan not only won the gold medal she did so with a new world record 12.06 sec, Jamaica Britany Anderson won the silver in 12.23 and Camacho-Quinn the bronze in 12,23 sec
Born Oluwatobiloba Ayomide Amusan on April 23, 1997, in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
The graduate of he University of Texas at El Paso had her early education at Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Ijebu-Ode and began her career at Buka Tigers Athletics Club.
Before the Sunday’s feat she was ranked number three in the world.
Amusan specializes in the 100 meters hurdles and also competes as a sprinter.
She was the 2018 Commonwealth and 2018 African champion and is also a two-time African Games champion in the event.
She won the Diamond League Trophy in Zurich in 2021 in the 100m hurdles.
. She was a silver medalist at the 2013 African Youth Championships in Warri.
She also claimed gold in the 100 meters hurdles at the 2015 African Junior Athletics Championships in Addis Ababa. In 2015, while making her All-Africa Games debut as an eighteen-year-old, she won the gold medal in the 100 meters hurdles.
Amusan finished fourth in the Tokyo Olympics with a time of 12.60s. She later competed in the Zurich Diamond League event, which she won in 12.42s, becoming the first Nigerian to win a Diamond League trophy.
But Amusan was not the only athlete that made Nigeria proud on Sunday, in the women’s long jump Ese Brume won the silver medal with a jump of 7.02 m, Malaika Mihambo won the hold in 7.12 and Leticia Oro Melo the bronze in 6.89. Ruth Usoro another Nigerian in the final did not medal.
