Every competition brings Tobi Amusan a step closer to achieving her target of running a 12.5 in 2017!
The University of Texas El Paso Sophomore opened her outdoor season on Saturday at the UTEP Springtime where she raced to the fastest time in the world in 2017, smashing her former Personal Best (PB) by a whopping 0.20s to set a new School Record of 12.63s in the 100m Hurdles.
The Nigerian hurdler was simply sensational as she left the rest of the field trailing in her wake, with 2nd and 3rd place finishers Latavia Coombs and Lucia Mokrasova both clocking a time of 14.00s.
Prior to Amusan’s record-breaking feat on Saturday, the world’s fastest time in the 100m Hurdles in 2017 was set by USA’s Kori Carter (12.78s) on March 18th.
In an interview with El Paso Times, the African Games Champion disclosed that she didn’t initially have an idea of how fast she ran, but knew she executed well:
“I didn’t have any idea. It felt so good, so easy. I wasn’t surprised, I’ve been working hard ever since I got back from the (indoor) nationals. I don’t go into competitions with the idea of running a time. I go into competition trying to execute my race. It showed. It felt good, I just didn’t have anybody to push me. I was all by myself.”
Another Nigerian who impressed in the meet was Ada Benjamin, who claimed the women’s 400m title in a Season’s Best (SB) of 53.16s. Benjamin also placed 2nd in the 200m in a time of 24.02s, finishing behind Mauricia Prieto who won the event in 23.84s.
Commonwealth Youth Games GOLD medallist Omotayo Abolaji was in action for South Plains College at the meeting and placed 4th in the 100m where she returned a time of 11.89s. The race was won by Shian Hyde in 11.85s.
Meanwhile Abiola Onakoya raced in the men’s 200m, crossing the finishing line in 21.16s to follow UTEP’s Asa Guevara who won the title in 21.06s.
