Nigeria Hopeful for Medal as Tobi Amusan Advances to 100m Hurdles Semifinals

Nigeria’s medal drought at the Paris Olympics may soon end as Tobi Amusan, the world champion, has qualified for the 100-meter hurdles semifinals on Wednesday.

Amusan led the pack of eight athletes with a time of 12.49 seconds, followed by America’s Alaysha Johnson at 12.61 seconds and Jamaica’s Janeek Brown at 12.84 seconds.

Among the contenders for the gold medal, Amusan will face tough competition from the world’s best, including Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton, USA’s Alaysha Johnson, world champion Danielle Williams, and reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico.

The semifinals are set for Friday, leading to the finals on Saturday, August 10.

The 27-year-old Amusan has been in excellent form leading up to the games, achieving a season’s best and world-leading time of 12.40 seconds at the Jamaican Athletics Invitational in May.

Earlier this year, Amusan set the indoor record for the African 60m hurdles twice in January and February. In March, she won her third consecutive African Games title in Ghana, anchored the women’s 4x100m relay to gold in Accra, and claimed the African Championships title in Cameroon three months later.

This season, she has competed in 17 events, including the 60m, 100m, 100m hurdles, and the 4x100m relay.

Amusan is a three-time consecutive Diamond League winner, two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, two-time African champion, and three-time African Games gold medallist. She has also participated in two Olympic Games (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020).

With Amusan’s advancement, Nigeria remains hopeful of securing a medal as the country has yet to appear on the medals table at the current Olympic Games.