Nigeria’s last competitor at the 2016 IAAF U20 World Championships, Oluwatobiloba Amusan finished 5th in the 100m Hurdles on the final day of competition at the Zawisza Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Amusan arrived the championships as the woman to beat, coming with a World U20 Lead of 12.83s set at the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) Springtime held earlier this year. However, it seems that the pressure got to the African Games Champion who was cautioned for a false start, along with the rest of the field.
This also affected her start as she was left behind at the blocks. However she had to dig deep, trying to draw level with USA Champion Alexis Duncan as the race progressed. Amusan made some progress, but was stalled after hitting the final barrier, subsequently succumbing to a bitter defeat.
Instead it was Belarus’ Elvira Herman who won the race in a Championship Record (CR) of 12.85s, with Jamaica’s Rushelle Burton taking the Silver in an U20 National Record (NR) of 12.87s, while World Junior Record (WJR) holder, Tia Jones won the Bronze in 12.89s.
The outcome of the race was indeed an anticlimax for Amusan who has enjoyed an incredible outing in her Freshman year at UTEP, and the World Junior title would have been the perfect icing on the cake for the hurdler who is seen as the likely successor to Nigerian Record holder, Glory Alozie.
The African Junior Champion will now focus on the forthcoming Olympic Games in Rio where she will be making her debut outing, and will hope to put up an impressive performance in Brazil.
