Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, says Tobi Amusan’s record breaking feat in the Women’s 100m hurdles at the Diamond League meeting in Paris last week is a further testament of nation’s rising profile in sports.
Amusan, 25, ran 12.41 seconds to break the nine-month-old African Record (AR) she set last year at the Diamond League final in Zurich.
Before last week’s race, Amusan was already the African Record holder having erased the previous long-standing record held by her compatriot, Gloria Alozie. However, while the initial record achieved at the Diamond League in Zurich nine months ago was 12.42s, the 25-year-old has lowered it to a new lifetime best time of 12.41 seconds.
“Congratulations to Tobi on her new African record. This is a further testament of the rising profile of sports in Nigeria,” Dare said.
Dare says Amusan’s feat and the recent encouraging performances by Nigerian athletes across the globe are a sign of growth which the Sports Ministry is determined to sustain.
Nigerian track and field athletes, especially those from the World U20 Athletics Championships in Nairobi last year, have achieved world class standards in their respective events with some breaking national records as old as they are.
While an under strength Team Nigeria won 11 medals to finish third at the African Senior Athletics Championships in Mauritius a few days ago.
