Without an iota of doubt, Tobi Amusan’s outstanding peformance in the 2016 season is set to continue, following her latest feat, which saw the UTEP freshman breaking her school’s 33-year old record at their senior day Spring Invitational on Saturday, April 30th.
The African Games 100m Hurdles Champion broke the 13s barrier for the first time in her career, clocking a wind legal Personal Best (PB) of 12.83s to win ahead of Bridgette Owens, and qualify for the forthcoming Olympic Games, surpassing the entry standard of 13.00s.
Her time is 0.12s faster than former school record holder Kim Turner’s 12.95s set in 1983, and is currently ranked No 2 on the NCAA list, just behind University of Michigan’s Cindy Ofili (12.66s), and is currently on the Top 10 world list.
At Junior level, her time is the second fastest EVER, tops the 2016 list and is now the Nigerian/African Junior Record.
Speaking to El Paso Times after her race, Amusan said: “It was a really nice race and my plan was just to get out of the blocks. When I first looked at the scoreboard and it said 13.3s I was very mad, but then when the official results popped up and said 12.83s, I said YES!!!
“It is really a privilege to run sub 13s and it is great to see my goal come true that I have been training for over the past year.”
A few hours later, the reigning African Junior Champion proved what a speedster she is as she came back to win the 200m in an impressive 23.24s, which is now ranked No 1 in C-USA.
“I know I have good speed and know that I am capable of running a sub-23s 200m dash, but a 23.2 is not a bad start,” she said after running her first 200m dash in over two and a half years.
With Amusan’s form that has seen her win most of her races (indoor and outdoor) this season, including once running the 4th fastest time in the world, she is definitely one to keep an eye on as a medal prospect at the NCAA Championships, World Juniors and probably the Olympics this year.
Amusan was not the only Nigerian in winning form in El Paso; her teammate Florence Uwakwe clocked a Season’s Best (SB) of 53.13s to take the 400m GOLD, while African Juniors Heptathlon Champion Rebecca Osinbajo raced to a PB of 25.50s in the 200m.
Another notable performance by a Nigerian athlete during the weekend was Stephen Mozia’s double win in both the Shot Put and Discus events with throws of 20.55m and 49.40m respectively at a meet in Athens, Georgia.
Adekunle Fasasi was a member of the University of Florida’s quartet that won GOLD in the College Men’s 4×400 Championship of America Invitational at the Penn Relays, clocking a time of 3:04.78 to finish ahead of Tennessee (3:07.75) and G.C. Foster (3:08.19).
Meanwhile Doreen Amata cleared the height of 1.85m to place joint 2nd with Maya Pressley and World Indoor Champion, Vashti Cunningham of USA at the Drake Relays. The event, which was competed indoors due to bad weather, saw Lavern Spencer of St. Lucia equal her National Indoor Record of 1.95m to win the event.
