Nigeria’s Amusan posts 2017 world’s fastest 100m hurdles time
Tobi Amusan, who made the semifinals of the 2016 Rio Olympics, at the weekend clocked a 12.63 seconds lifetime and 2017 world leading 100 metres hurdles best on at the University of Texas in El Paso (UTEP) Springtime meet held at the school ground, the Kidd Field.
The time, which broke a 34-year-old UTEP record, also shot the petite sprint hurdler up as the second fastest Nigerian of all-time in the event behind Africa and Nigeria’s record holder, Glory Alozie (12.44).
The Nigerian wasn’t surprised she ran that fast. “I didn’t have any idea,” Amusan was quoted as saying by the El Paso Times when asked if she knew how fast she had run. “It felt so good, so easy. I wasn’t surprised. I have been working hard ever since I got back from (indoor) nationals. I don’t go into competitions with the idea of running a time. I go into competition trying to execute my race. It showed.”
To put her time in perspective, it would have finished last season tied for the 10th best time in the world and the best in the NCAA. As she crossed the line, her coach, Lacena Golding-Clarke, thought she had messed it up on her hand time.
“My stopwatch gave me an inclination of what it was, but I was waiting for the official time,” Golding-Clarke said. “I had 12.4-something (a hand time in the 100 hurdles should be .24 faster than the fully-automatic time) and I thought, ‘That’s not possible.’ I was not thinking she was ready to run that fast. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. She’s trained so hard.
“I’m so, so happy for her. I was thinking maybe a sub-13, maybe a 12.90 we can work with, but to run 12.63 as a sophomore – that’s better than my (personal record). I ran pro for 11 years and my best was 12.65. And she’s just a sophomore,” Golding-Clarke told the El Paso Times.
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2 Comments
Hope she will not follow the example of Obikwelu and the Alozie to run off to Spain and Portugal.
If the facilities are not available, and the motivation is absent, what would you want to use to attract her to her motherland?
The IAAF has banned athletes from changing nationality anyway. But she needs the consistency to prove herself, and we pray for that.
We will review and take appropriate action.