Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan was on fire in the just concluded World Athletics Championships in Oregon as she smashed the world record for the women’s 100m hurdles in the semifinals and ran an even quicker time to lift gold in the final, barely two hours later.
Amusan finished fourth at the last Olympics and World Championship in 2019 but returned to Oregon to stamp her place in history.
The Nigerian athlete clocked 12.12s in the semifinal to the surprise of spectators but went ahead to finish the final in 12.06 seconds to the world’s astonishment. However, her record in the final race would not count as an official world record as organisers insist she had too much tailwind in her favour.
America’s Keni Harrison held the previous world record when she finished 12.20s in 2016. Amusan’s time is the most significant drop for a world record in the hurdles event for 42 years.
Amusan had earlier set a personal best of 12.40s and also Africa’s fastest time in the event on Saturday.
Brittany Anderson of Jamaica finished second in the final to take silver, while Olympic gold medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn from Puerto Rico finished third.
