Tobi Amusan wins silver in 100m hurdles at World Athletics Championships

Nigeria Queen of track, Tobi Amusan has won silver in the women’s 100 metres hurdles final at the World Athletics Championships.

The 2022 world champion and world record holder, grabbed a second place finish with a season’s best 12.29 seconds.

She was narrowly beaten by Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji, who set a new national record of 12.24 to claim gold.

Amusan waded off tough competition from the Americans, with Grace Stark (12.34) and Masai Russell (12.44) taking third and fourth respectively.

Pre tournament drama: Amusan vs AFN

The 27-year-old Ogun State-born track and field stars had made the headlines ahead of the tournament for criticising Kits given to her to by the Nigerian authorities to compete at the World Championship.

In a video she shared on her Snapchat, Amusan said, unlike other countries that provide their contingents with kits in suitcases, the Nigerian government gave them their own kits in nylon bags with some part of the kits still not included.

Amusan also noted that despite officials collecting her shoe sizes, no shoes were included in the kit bags, saying she might have to wear her own personal shoe.

“So as it is now, I have to wear my Adidas black tights. My fans, they collected our shoe sizes,” she said.

However, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) President Tonobok Okowa rejected Amusan’s allegations, noting that the federation had provided the full complement of kits in line with the arrangement with Hiracer, a global sportswear company sponsoring athletes from 20 countries at the Tokyo championships

He said “There is nothing wrong with those kits. Tobi Amusan only brought out one pack out of the pack that she was given. The items came in batches, so they were told that the following day they would receive the rest of the kits. She just brought out only that one kit and displayed it to the world,”

Okowa, who said the distribution of the Kits by Hiracier was uniform across all participating nations said Athletes even received spike shoes, received covers made from the same company and added that company gave all the kits free of charge.

The AFN chief admitted that the only item omitted was a travel bag, but said the athletes were already given bags by the world’s governing body.

“The only thing they did not give them was bags, but the World Athletics already shared bags for every athlete” added Okowa who also explained that only Amusan out of the Nigeria’s 15 athletes for the event flew to Tokyo in Business class.

Her latest podium finish further cements her status as Nigeria’s most decorated sprint hurdler and one of Africa’s greatest track athletes of her generation.

Amusan’s medal was Nigeria’s first medal at the World Championships, since 2022 when she set the world record in Eugene.

She won gold at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon and holds the world record in the 100m hurdles