Tobi Amusan Sets New 100m Hurdles African Record

Nigerian sprinter Tobi Amusan set a new African Record (AR) of 12.41s as she claimed victory in the 100m Hurdles event at the Diamond League meet in Paris, moving her up to third in the world in 2022.

Amusan started well in her race, getting to the line a clear winner to shave off one-hundredth from her previous AR of 12.42s, almost two-tenths faster than Devynne Charlton who was 2nd in 12.63s (SB) and Cindy Sember 3rd in a time of 12.73s.

The victory moved the Nigerian up to third in the world in 2022, only behind World Leader Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (12.37s), and Alaysha Johnson (12.40s).

💥 Record d’Afrique !

🇳🇬 Tobi Amusan remporte le 100 m haies du 💎 @MEETINGPARIS en 12”41 !

🇫🇷 Cyréna Samba-Mayela termine 4e en 12”76, minima pour les Mondiaux de Eugene ! 👏

💻 Suivez le #MeetingParis en DIRECT sur @lachainelequipe. pic.twitter.com/uA0lVWUv8f

— MEETING DE PARIS (@MEETINGPARIS) June 18, 2022

Before Saturday’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

Amusan has now run seven legal sub 12.5s in the women’s 100m Hurdles, moving clear of Glory Alozie who did four sub 12.5s in her time. With the 2022 season entering its business end, Tobi is hitting form at the right time and could be in a very top shape going into the World Athletics Championships in Oregon.

AFRICAN RECORD 🌍

Tobi Amusan breaks the African 100m hurdles record by 0.01 with 12.41 🇳🇬

Watch out @WCHoregon22 👀 pic.twitter.com/nX3ZlfMRQs

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) June 18, 2022

Amusan’s latest win is coming a few days after she also won the 100m Hurdles event at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland.

Before her exploits in Finland, Amusan had also successfully defended her African title at the Senior Athletics Championship in Mauritius, where she also helped Team Nigeria to Gold in the 4x100m Women’s relay event.

• Read more: Nigerian Sprinter Tobi Amusan Wins 100m Hurdles In Finland
• Read more: Team Nigeria Finishes Third At African Senior Athletics Championship

Amusan will now shift focus to the Nigerian Athletics Championships which will take place between June 24 and 26 in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

The reigning Commonwealth Games champion is the favourite to retain the Nigerian 100m hurdles title she won last year at the Yaba College of Technology Sports complex.

Chidi Nwoke/World Athletics.