Tobi Amusan Sets New World-Leading Time At Jamaica Invitational
Nigerian superstar and world-record holder Tobi Amusan showed her class on Saturday night at the first staging of the Jamaica Athletics Invitational at the National Stadium to win the women’s 100m hurdles in a world-leading 12.40 seconds.
The Nigerian trailed reigning world champion Jamaican Danielle Williams and American Nia Ali for most of the race but surged ahead in the closing stages, eclipsing the previous world-leading time of 12.42 set by Tonea Marshall of the USA on April 20.
Jamaica.loopnews.com reports that Williams finished second in 12.46 seconds, with Christina Clemens of the USA taking third place in 12.54. Yanique Thompson of Jamaica secured fourth in 12.59, while Ali slipped to fifth with a time of 12.65.
Amusan ended last season on a high by winning the Diamond League women’s 100m hurdles title in Eugene, Oregon for an astonishing third consecutive time and silencing critics following a disappointing performance at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Interestingly, it was in Oregon where Amusan won the world title in 2022 and also set a world record in the process. World leader Daniel Roberts led home 1-2 finish for USA in the men’s 110m hurdles. Roberts, competing for the third time this season, secured a comfortable victory with a swift time of 13.17. Eric Edwards finished second in 13.33, just ahead of Jamaican Lafranz Campbell, who clocked 13.37.
Celebrating her victory, the minister of sports, John Enoh wrote: “Take your flowers Tobi Amusan, you stormed to an emphatic win in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational, clocking a time of 12.40s (0.9), a World Lead time!”
“You defeated World Champion Danielle Williams, who came 2nd in 12.46s, while Christina Clemons was 3rd in 12.54s. Tobi, you keep making our country proud.”
“Paris Olympics is around the corner, your performance gives us hope just like others, that Nigeria is set to break a jinx. Keep soaring, we are proud of you..”
Tobi Amusan Career History
From a young age, Amusan displayed exceptional athletic talent. She won the silver medal in the 200 meters at the 2013 African Youth Championships held in Warri. Shortly after, she secured another silver medal in the 100 meters hurdles at the African Youth Games. Her breakthrough came in 2015 at the African Junior Athletics Championships in Addis Ababa, where she clinched the gold in the hurdles event. That same year, at the age of eighteen, she made her mark at the All-Africa Games, winning the gold medal in the 100 meters hurdles.
2016
In 2016, during her freshman year at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), Amusan achieved remarkable success. She became the second athlete from UTEP to be honored as the C-USA Female Track Athlete of the Year since the university joined C-USA. At the C-USA Championships, she secured gold medals in both the 100m hurdles and the 200m, along with a silver in the long jump. Amusan made history by breaking the 13-second barrier in the hurdles with a stunning time of 12.83s at the El Paso UTEP Invitational, surpassing Kim Turner’s UTEP record that had stood for 33 years. Although she finished second in the 100m hurdles at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships, clocking a windy 12.79s behind Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Kentucky, she demonstrated her prowess on the international stage by competing at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Despite achieving her second-fastest time ever, she finished fifth in the final. Amusan also represented Nigeria at the Rio Olympic Games, reaching the semifinals of the 100m hurdles.
2017
In her first outdoor race of 2017, Amusan achieved a then-lifetime best and set a new UTEP record with a remarkable time of 12.63s in the 100m hurdles. She continued her dominance by clinching the C-USA championship in her specialist event and securing the runner-up position in the 200m. At the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships, there was a thrilling turnaround in the 100m hurdles as Amusan triumphed over Camacho-Quinn, the previous year’s champion, in a dramatic race. She seized the title with a personal record time of 12.57s. Later that year, she represented Nigeria at the World Championships in London.
2018: Commonwealth and African Champion
Amusan ran a personal best of 7.89 s in the 60 m hurdles at the start of her 2018 season. She represented her country at the Birmingham World Indoor Championships, reaching the final in the event.
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, 2015 world champion Danielle Williams seemed to be the favourite to take the title in the absence of Sally Pearson. In the final, however, Amusan moved ahead of her competitors and won the race by a clear metre ahead of Williams. She also won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100m relay with her teammates, Joy Udo-Gabriel, Blessing Okagbare and Rosemary Chukwuma. Later in the year, she won her first African Championship title in her signature event at the Asaba African Championships. This fulfilled a Nigerian tradition being 11th gold for Nigeria in the 100m hurdles since Judy Bell-Gam triumphed at the inaugural edition of the championships in 1979. She also claimed a gold medal in the 4 × 100m relay at the championships.
2019: Second African Games Title
In August, the 22-year-old athlete effectively retained her African Games title. Then, on October 5th at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, she showcased her prowess by clocking a personal best of 12.48s during the 100m hurdles qualifying rounds. The following day, in the semi-finals, she matched this personal best before ultimately finishing fourth in the final a few hours later, recording a time of 12.49s.
2021: First Nigerian Diamond League Champion
Amusan finished fourth at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a time of 12.60s. She later competed in the Zürich Diamond League final event, which she won in a new African record of 12.42 s, breaking 23-years-old best of 12.44 s held by her compatriot Glory Alozie and becoming the first Nigerian to win a Diamond League trophy.
2022: World, Commonwealth, African and Diamond League Champion
In June, Amusan defended her 100 m hurdles title at the African Championships in Mauritius with a time of 12.57s. She also competed in the women’s 4 × 100 m relay to earn a second gold medal. The same month, she lowered her African record in her specialist event with a 12.41s clocking when winning at the Diamond League meet in Paris.
At 25 years old, Amusan entered the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July as a strong contender for a medal, following two consecutive fourth-place finishes. In the heats, she surpassed her own African record yet again, clocking an impressive time of 12.40s, improving by an additional 0.01s. Then, in the semi-final, Amusan achieved a remarkable feat by setting a new world record of 12.12 seconds, breaking the previous record of 12.20s set by American Kendra Harrison in 2016. This achievement marked her as the first Nigerian world record holder in an athletics event and represented the largest improvement for a world record in the 100m hurdles in 42 years. She continued her exceptional performance in the final, setting a new personal best with a time of 12.06s, although wind assistance rendered it not a legal world record. Nonetheless, this victory made her the first Nigerian world champion at the World Athletics Championships.
In August at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Amusan successfully defended her title, winning her second consecutive gold medal in the 100 m hurdles with a new Games record of 12.30 s. She also helped power Nigeria’s women’s 4 × 100 m relay team to gold. She competed in her specialist event at the Lausanne Diamond Race meet later that month, finishing second with a time of 12.60 s, behind reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. Amusan wrapped up her long and successful 2022 campaign by winning 100 m hurdles at the Zürich Diamond League final event with a 12.29 s performance to retain her title. She finished ahead of, 2–4, Tia Jones, Britany Anderson, and Camacho-Quinn, setting a new meet record in the process.
2023
On 16 July 2023, Amusan clocked a new season best of 12.34 seconds in the 100m Hurdles at the Silesia Diamond league meet. Three days later Amusan was charged with missing three anti-doping controls and was given a provisional suspension from participation. On 17 August 2023, the Disciplinary Tribunal found that Amusan had not committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation of three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period and her provisional suspension was lifted.
At the 2023 World Championships held in Budapest, she finished sixth in the final held on 24 August.
Tobi Amusan has achieved significant success in her career, including winning medals at various international competitions such as the African Games and the World Athletics Championships. Amusan has also broken records in the 100m hurdles event, making her one of Nigeria’s top athletes in track and field.