There will be no rest for Tobi Amusan in her quest to add the Olympic gold medal to the World 100m hurdles title she won two years ago in Oregon, U.S.
The 27-year-old returns to the U.S, this time, Atlanta, after her 12.40 catch-me-if-you-can run at the 2024 Jamaican Athletics Invitational in Kingston, Jamaica on Saturday.
The Nigerian has been confirmed for the 2024 Adidas Atlanta City Games and it will be a race featuring the two fastest women in the history of the games.
Amusan threw down the gauntlet on Saturday as she ran 12.40 to win the event at the 2024 Jamaica Athletics Invitational and move top of the 2024 top list.
According to SportsNow.com, it was Amusan’s first sub-12.50 seconds of the year and her 20th in general since 2019 when she first ran inside 12.50 (12.49) at the Meeting Pro Athlé Tour de Sotteville les Rouen in Sotteville-lès-Rouen, France.
Amusan raced inside 12.50 three more times that year and had her highest in 2022 (7), the year she made history as the first Nigerian to win a World outdoor title and set a world outdoor record.
The reigning African Games champion has set her eyes on becoming the first Nigerian track and field athlete to win both the World and Olympic titles.
In Kingston, the Nigerian sped home first ahead of reigning world champion, Danielle Williams (12.46), who came second and USA’sChristina Clemens, who ran 12.54 to place third. She will go head-to-head with Kendra Harrison at the event in Atlanta.
Harrison, the 2018 World Athletics Indoor champion in the 60m hurdles and 2020 Olympic silver medalist, is a former world record-holder and stands as the second fastest 100m hurdler of all-time at 12.20.
Interestingly, Harrison holds a 17-7 lead over Amusan in races between the two, but the Nigerian has won seven of the last 10 of such clashes.
