The world record set by Tobi Amusan in the women’s 100m hurdles semi-final at the Athletics Championships in Oregon in July of this year has been ratified by the World Athletics (previously known as IAAF).
This was disclosed on Tuesday in a statement published on the athletics body’s official website.
Amusan ran a time of 12.12 seconds to defeat former world record holder, Kendra Harrison, who had set the world record in the 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.20 seconds in 2016, at the London Müller Anniversary Games.
The 25-year-old was, however, not done as she followed that remarkable performance with a wind-assisted 12.06 (2.5m/s) to win the final.
“The goal was to come out and to win this gold, Honestly, I believe in my abilities, but I was not expecting a world record at these championships,” a surprised Amusan had said in an interview after her record-breaking run.
The time of 12.12 seconds makes it the official world record to beat in the women’s hurdles.
Racial Johnson?
Despite the amazing feat, former world and Olympic record holder in the 200m and 400m, Michael Johnson, questioned the legitimacy of the clock, implying some level of foul play
“I don’t believe 100h times are correct. World record broken by .08! 12 PBs set. 5 National records set. And Cindy Sember quote after her PB/NR ‘I thoroughly I was running slow!’ All athletes looked shocked (sic).
“Heat 2 we were first shown a winning time of 12.53. A few seconds later it shows 12.43. Rounding down by .01 is normal. .10 is not,” queried the legendary track king.
Johnson had been accused of being racist with his tweets as angry Twitter users showed their displeasure at the legend’s approach.
A user said, “Why don’t you channel your energy to recovering from your stroke you Black racist!”
“Tobi Amusan is a world record holder and there’s nothing you can do about that,” tweeted another irate user.
The 55-year-old would later defend his earlier tweets saying “As a commentator, my job is to comment. In questioning the times of 28 athletes (not 1 athlete) by wondering if the timing system malfunctioned.”
“I was attacked, accused of racism, and of questioning the talent of an athlete I respect and predicted to win. Unacceptable. I move on.”
Undisputed Champion
Amusan has been in the form of her life in recent, breaking the African record three times in the space of 10 months before smashing the record in Oregon to become Nigeria’s first-ever world athletics champion and world record holder.
She got another record-breaking gold medal for team Nigeria, this time at the commonwealth games in Birmingham, united kingdom.
Amusan lined up in the final as favourite for gold and there was no stopping her as she blazed to a new games record of 12.30 seconds to retain the 100m hurdles she won four years ago in the gold coast, Australia.
The UTEP alumni confirmed her supremacy as the best female hurdler in the world by clocking a new meeting record of 12.29s (-0.3) to break Gail Devers’ 22-year-old record of 12.39s to retain her diamond league title in Zurich on September the 8th.
Last Thursday, September the 15th, she bagged the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) award as President Muhammadu Buhari honoured the country’s athletes for their spectacular performances in several competitions.
Amusan became the first Nigerian world champion in an athletics event when she won the 2022 World Athletics Championships 100 metres hurdles gold medal.
She is also the current African, Commonwealth and World Champion in the 100m hurdles as well as the record holder in the three competitions.
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