Tobi Amusan, the world record holder in the 100m hurdles, will return to the tracks at the Stade de France today (Friday) for the event’s semi-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Game.
On Wednesday, Amusan breezed into the semi-finals, clocking 12.49 seconds to beat Alaysha Johnson of the United States, who finished second in 12.61 seconds and Janeek Brown third in 12.84.
Amusan will face defending world champion Danielle Williams, Grace Stark of the United States, Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas, and four other competitors in the first of three semi-finals.
The first two finishers in each race will automatically advance to Saturday’s final, along with the two quickest non-automatic qualifiers.
The 27-year-old ran the second-fastest time in the heats, trailing Olympic champion and Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who ran 12.42 seconds.
Amusan was in high spirits following a thrilling first-round race.
“The first time I came as an Olympian, I was like 18/19; the second time, I think I was a little bit experienced, and I didn’t get on the podium. This time, I think, it’s my season,” said Amusan, who has now qualified for three consecutive semifinals at the Olympics.
After narrowly missing out on medals in various track events and wrestling, the world record bears the weight of Nigeria’s ambitions.
She has been in excellent form in the lead-up to the sporting event, running a season’s best and then world record of 12.40s (0.9) in the Jamaican Athletics Invitational in Kingston in May.
Previously, she had established the African 60m hurdles indoor record twice in January and February.
In March, she won her third consecutive African Games championship in Ghana, as well as gold in the women’s 4x100m relay in Accra and the African Championships in Cameroon three months later.
Amusan, who holds three-time (consecutive) Diamond League titles, is a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, a two-time African champion, and a three-time African Games gold medallist, has participated in two Olympic Games (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020).
