On Monday, July 12th Oluwatobi Amusan made history for the nation by becoming Nigeria’s first ever gold winner at the World Athletics Championships.
This was a relief to Nigerians as the sporting success provides an ambience of joy and excitement amid the avalanche of bad news that plagues the country from the ever devaluing naira and the failing economy to heightened insecurity and gruesome killings.
Amusan, a sprinter in 100meter hurdles, broke two records on Sunday during the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
First she qualified for the semi-final 100m hurdle by finishing at 12:12 seconds and defeated Kendra Harrison who owned the world record for finishing the 100m hurdle at 12:20.
Barely 90 minutes later, at the final run, she finished at 12:06 seconds while Britany Anderson from Jamaica came second and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn from Cuba at third position.
As a result of this accomplishment, the 25-year old was awarded a sum of 100,000 US dollars (N65, 000,000) for finishing the 13 minute barrier 100 meters hurdle.
It was a new dawn in the world of sports. Many citizens celebrated her feat on their social media platforms. It was a thing of pride for many citizens and a blissful day where people celebrated for just being a Nigerian.
Here are things you should know about Tobi Amusan:
Oluwatobi Amusian was born on the 23rd April 1997 in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. Her parents were teachers and she is the last child of three siblings.
She attended Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. Her interest in sports grew by participating in football games at school before she found that running was her best talent.
Her current coach (2016 till date) is Lacena Golding Clarke, a Jamaican.
Oluwatobi Amusan Athlete code number is 14579526
Amusan earned a scholarship in 2016 and is still a student of University of Texas, El Paso.
In 2013 Amusan made her debut victory by securing silver in a African Youth Championships in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria.
In 2014, she won silver at the African Youth Games in Botswana
In 2015, Amusan won African under-20 gold in Addis Ababa Ethiopia at the age of 18 years and another victory at the All-African Games in Brazzaville Congo
In 2016, she qualified for the semi-finals at 2016 Rio Olympics
In 2016, due to her studies in University of Texas, El Paso, she ran the schools 100m hurdle and became the second athlete to win Conference -USA Female Track athlete of the year since El Paso joined C-USA
In 2017, she beat the 100m hurdle in a time of 12.57 seconds and became the National Collegiate Athletic Association Champion
In 2018, Amusan won Gold in the Commonwealth Games in Coast Australia. Same year, she became the winner of Asaba African Championships.
In 2019 and 2021 she came fourth at the 100m hurdle World Athletics Championships held in Doha and Tokyo respectively.
Then this year in 2022, she won the African Championships in Mauritius. On June 2022, Amusan qualified to represent Nigeria at the World Athletics Championship.