Nigerian athlete, Tobi Amusan, made history on Sunday after winning the women’s 100m hurdles gold at the 2022 World Athletics Championship.
Amusan, in the completion held in Eugene, United States, became the first athlete from Nigeria to win gold in such competition.
She first ran a blistering 12:12 seconds to shatter the world record of 12:20 seconds set by Kendra Harrison of U. S. in the semi-finals.
She then followed up with a (+2.5) wind-assisted 12.06s in the final.
A cheque displayed by Amusan revealed that she would earn $100,000 for setting a world record in the championship.
Below are a few things to know about the athlete:
Amusan was born on April 23, 1997, in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.
She attended Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Ijebu-Ode for her secondary education.
Amusan also attended The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), United States.
She is a track and field athlete who specialises in the 100 metres hurdles and also competes as a sprinter.
She was a silver medalist at the 2013 African Youth Championships in Warri, Delta State.
Amusan also claimed gold in the 100 metres hurdles at the 2015 African Junior Athletics Championships in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Amusan gets $100,000 for winning gold at World Athletics championship
In 2015, while making her All-Africa Games debut as an 18-year-old, she won the gold medal in the 100 metres hurdles.
In 2016, Tobi Amusan became the second athlete for The University of Texas at El Paso to be named C-USA Female Track athlete of the Year since UTEP joined C-USA.
She was the gold medallist in both the 100 mH and the 200 m, while She also claimed a silver in the long jump at the C-USA Championships.
Amusan represented Nigeria at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, reaching the semifinals of the 100 mH.
In her first outdoor race of 2017, Amusan ran a then lifetime best and UTEP record of 12.63 s in the 100 metres hurdles. She was the C-USA champion in her specialist event and also the runner-up in the 200 metres.
She also represented Nigeria at the World Championships in London later in the year.
In 2018, Amusan represented Nigeria at the Birmingham World Indoor Championships reaching the final of the 60 metres hurdles.
She won the 100 m hurdles at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, and also won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 m relay with her teammates.
Later in the year, Amusan won her first African Championships title in her specialist event at the Asaba African Championships.
Amusan finished fourth in the 2020 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.
2022 World Athletics: Amusan breaks record, wins gold for Nigeria
Amusan opened her 2022 season by winning the 2022 Diamond League event in Paris, where she set an African record by 0.01s with a time of 12.41s.
She won gold in the 100m hurdles at the 2022 African Championships in Mauritius, defending her title successfully with a time of 12.57s (wind-aided). She also competed in the women’s 4×100m and won gold.
On July 24, Tobi Amusan won the 2022 World Athletics Championships in the 100 metres hurdles, setting a new world record of 12.12 seconds in the semifinal, then a 12.06 in the final.
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