Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan is now officially the fastest woman in the world.
Amusan ran a world-leading time of 12.40 seconds in Kingston to win from home favourite and reigning world champion Danielle Williams (12.46) with USA’s Christina Clemens third in 12.54s.
The women’s 100m belonged to another African, Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith, who was the only athlete inside 11 seconds. The sprinter from Cote d’Ivoire posted the third-fastest time in the world this year, 10.91, to beat Jamaica’s Krystal Sloley (11.09) into second place.
Former 100m world champions Fred Kerley and Christian Coleman came into the meet looking to build on their early season form in the men’s 200m.
But Anguilla-born British sprinter Zharnel Hughes had other ideas as he won the half-lap sprint in a season’s best 19.96. Kerley was second in 20.17 with Coleman finishing down in fifth in 20.46.
There was another world lead in the women’s 400m hurdles as Rushell Clayton just got the better of USA’s Anna Cockrell. The Jamaican clocked 53.72, four-hundredths ahead of Cockrell.
From near quitting to record-breaking: Tobi Amusan’s emotional journey to becoming the world’s fastest 100m hurdler
After the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021, the Nigerian star found herself pondering deeply about her future. She was on the brink of giving up on the sport. In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com the world 100m hurdles record holder opened up on the difficult moment in her career, reflects back on the race of her lifetime at the 2022 World Championships and why she thinks she can run a sub-12.
World 100m hurdles champion Tobi Amusan has never doubted her sprinting ability. But after Tokyo 2020 in 2021, she considered quitting athletics, frustrated by her failure to medal, yet again.
“Two Olympics, and three World Championships, every year we put in the work and it’s always a fourth-place finish or semi-finals,” she said. “So, every Championship year I had like trauma- what if I come in fourth place again?”
Finishing fourth in Tokyo, after missing the podium at the 2019 World Championships, left her struggling to overcome the mental side of six years of pushing and believing in herself.
“Last year I almost gave up on track. I came back from the Olympics, and I went straight into depression mode for weeks,” Amusan told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview.
A moment of openness from the Nigerian who stunned the world with two blistering runs at July’s 2022 World Championships. She broke the women’s 100m world record in the semi-finals clocking 12.12 seconds, and two hours later in the final burst out of the blocks for the gold medal in an even faster time of 12.06, although that didn’t count as an official record due to their being too much tailwind.
Courtesy: olympics.com
