World champion Tobi Amusan qualified for the 100-meter hurdles semi-finals in the ongoing 2024 Olympics in Paris on Wednesday.
Amusan led the pack of eight athletes with 12.49 seconds, followed by America’s Alaysha Johnson with 12.61 and Jamaica’s Janeek Brown qualified with 12.84 seconds.
Also read: Tobi Amusan makes history as she wins third consecutive Diamond League title
Amusan is certainly among the favourites for the gold medal, but that won’t come easy, contending with a strong field that includes the Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton, USA’s Alaysha Johnson, world champion Danielle Williams and reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico.
The semi-finals will hold on Friday, August 9, while the final is slated for the penultimate day of the athletics event, Saturday, August 10.
The 27-year-old has been in great form in the run-up to the sports fiesta, running a season’s best and then world lead of 12.40s (0.9) at the Jamaican Athletics Invitational in Kingston in May.
Before then, she had set the indoor record for the African 60m hurdles twice in January and February.
In March, she won her third consecutive African Games title in Ghana, plus anchoring the women’s 4x100m to gold in Accra as well as the African Championships in Cameroon three months later.
This season, she has competed in 17 events, which include the 60m, 100m, 100m hurdles, and the 4x100m relay.
Amusan, a three-time (consecutive) Diamond League winner, two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, two-time African champion, and three-time African Games gold medallist, has participated in two Olympic Games (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020).
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
