Tobi Amusan surged to victory in the women’s 100-metre hurdles on Sunday in Oregon, becoming the first Nigerian athlete to win a gold medal at a World Athletics Championship.
Amusan crossed the finish line at Hayward Field in 12.06 seconds after shattering the world record in an astounding semifinal with a time of 12.12 seconds.
However, a strong following win of 2.5 meters per second means that her winning time will not be recognized as a world record.
Britany Anderson of Jamaica won silver in 12.23 seconds, while Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico, an Olympic champion, won bronze in 12.23.
In the semi-finals, Amusan broke the previous record, which was held by American Keni Harrison and stood at 12.20 seconds from 2016.
Here are ten things to know about the Nigerian Athlete:
1. Amusan showed a lot of athletic potential from an early age. She was a silver medallist at the 2013 African Youth Championships in Warri.
2. She also claimed gold in the 100 metres hurdles at the 2015 African Junior Athletics Championships in Addis Ababa.
3. In 2015, while making her All-Africa Games debut as an eighteen year old, she won the gold medal in the 100 metres hurdles.
4. In 2016, as a freshman for The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), Amusan became the second athlete for the university to be named C-USA Female Track athlete of the Year since UTEP joined C-USA.
5. In her first outdoor race of 2017, she ran a then lifetime best and UTEP record of 12.63 s in the 100 metres hurdles.
6. She ran a personal best of 7.89 s in the 60 metres hurdles at the start of her 2018 season. She went on to represent her country at the Birmingham World Indoor Championships reaching the final of the 60 metres hurdles.
7. On October 5, 2019, at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, she ran a personal best of 12.48 s during the 100 metres hurdles qualifying rounds. In the semi-finals the following day, she equaled this personal best before placing 4th a few hours later in the final with 12.49 s.
8. 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.
9. Amusan opened her 2022 season by winning the 2022 Diamond League event in Paris, were she set an African record by 0.01s with a time of 12.41s.
10. She won gold in the 100m hurdles at the 2022 African Championships in Mauritius, defending her title successfully with a time of 12.57s.