The last Nigerian athlete standing, Oluwatobiloba Amusan would be hoping to redeem the country’s image when she takes on the likes of USA’s Tia Jones and Alexis Duncan on the final day of the IAAF U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
The University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) athlete has enjoyed an outstanding season so far, and winning GOLD in the 100m Hurdles in Poland would be a perfect climax for the African Games Champion who also enjoyed some successes in 2015.
Amusan maintained her unbeaten record thus far in the championship, running a time of 12.99s on Saturday to win Heat 1 of the semis ahead of US Junior Champion Duncan who clocked a Personal Best (PB) of 13.02s, with Great Britain’s Alicia Barrett placing 3rd in 13.34s.
World Junior Record (WJR) holder Jones won Heat 2 in 13.09s, while Jamaica’s Rushelle Burton placed 2nd with a PB of 13.21s, as Mollie Courtney of Great Britain placed 3rd in a time of 13.42s.
Elvira Herman of Belarus clocked the overall fastest time of 12.97s to win Heat 3, clocking a National U20 Record in the process. She was followed by Laura Valette of France (13.23s), while Taylon Bieldt of South Africa posted an U20 NR of 13.35s to finish in 3rd place.
Amusan will compete from Lane 5 on Sunday, and will be flanked by Herman and Duncan. Hopefully the competition will spur the Nigerian towards setting a new lifetime’s best.
