Oluwatobiloba Ayomide "Tobi" Amusan (born 23 April 1997) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who specialises in the

100 metres hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten Hurdling, hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first h ...

and also competes as a

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er. She is the current

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and African champion in the 100 m hurdles, as well as the meet record holder in those three competitions. Amusan became the first ever Nigerian world champion and world record holder in an athletics event when she won the 2022 World Championships 100 m hurdles gold medal, setting the current

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

of 12.12 seconds in the semifinal, followed up by a wind-assisted 12.06 s in the final. She won back to back Commonwealth and African titles in 2018 and 2022 in the 100 m hurdles and is also a two-time African Games champion in the event. In 2015, Amusan took gold in the 100 m hurdles at the African Junior Championships and the same year, as an 18-year-old, secured her first title at the African Games. In 2021, Amusan became the first Nigerian athlete to win a

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

title as she took the 100 m hurdles trophy, breaking the then African record held by

Glory Alozie Gloria “Glory” Alozie Oluchi (born 30 December 1977 in Amator, Abia State) is a Nigerian-born Spanish track and field athlete competing mostly in hurdling. The world junior second placer from 1996, she went on to have a successful senior c ...

in the process. She retained her title in

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Early life and education

Tobi Amusan was born on April 23, 1997, in Ijebu Ode,

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to the ...

, Nigeria, to Mr and Mrs. Amusan who are school teachers. Tobi, as she is fondly called, is the last child of three siblings. She had her Secondary School Education at Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Ijebu Ode.

Career

From an early age, Amusan was an accomplished athlete. She was the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

silver medallist at the 2013 African Youth Championships held in

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri and her twin city, Uvwie are the commercial c ...

. A year later, she took her first major medal in the

, which was also silver, at the

African Youth Games The African Youth Games is an international multi-sport event held every four years to complement the current Africa Games. The first games was hosted by Rabat, Morocco. This international sportive event has been created by Lassana Palenfo, cu ...

. She then claimed gold in the event at the

2015 African Junior Athletics Championships The 2015 African Junior Athletics Championships was the twelfth edition of the biennial, continental athletics tournament for African athletes aged 19 years or younger. It was held at the Addis Ababa Stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 5–8 Ma ...

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. Also in

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, while making her

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...

debut as an eighteen year old, she won the gold medal in the 100 m hurdles.

2016

In 2016, as a freshman for the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

(UTEP), Amusan became the second athlete for the university to be named C-USA Female Track athlete of the Year since UTEP joined C-USA. She was the gold medallist in both the 100 m hurdles and the 200 m. She also claimed a silver in the long jump at the C-USA Championships. Amusan first broke the 13 s barrier in the hurdles with a time of 12.83 s at the El Paso UTEP Invitational. This eclipsed

Kim Turner Kimberly "Kim" Seals (née Turner, formerly McKenzie, born March 21, 1961) is an American former athlete who competed mainly in the 100 meter hurdles. She won the 1984 US Olympic trials and went on to win a bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angele ...

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

record which had stood for 33 years. She was runner-up at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 100 m hurdles. She ran a windy 12.79 s behind Kentucky's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. Amusan also competed at the 2016 World Junior Championships in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

, Poland. Despite running her second fastest time ever, she placed fifth in the final. She went on to represent Nigeria at the Rio Olympic Games, reaching the semifinals of the 100 m hurdles.

2017

In her first outdoor race of 2017, she ran a then lifetime best and UTEP record of 12.63 s in the 100 m hurdles. She was the C-USA champion in her specialist event and also the runner up in the 200 m. At the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships, there was a reversal of finishes in the 100 m hurdles. In a dramatic race, Amusan claimed the title ahead of Camacho-Quinn who was the champion the previous year. She did this in a personal record time of 12.57 s. She also represented Nigeria at the World Championships in London later in the year.

2018: Commonwealth and African champion

Amusan ran a personal best of 7.89 s in the 60 m hurdles at the start of her 2018 season. She went on to represent her country at the Birmingham World Indoor Championships reaching the final in the event. At the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

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, Australia, 2015 world champion

Danielle Williams Danielle Gracia Williams (born 14th September 1992) is a Jamaican track and field athlete specialising in the sprint hurdles. She is best known for winning the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships. In addition, she won two medals at Summe ...

seemed to be the favourite to take the title in the absence of Sally Pearson. In the final however, Amusan moved ahead of her competitors and won the race by a clear metre ahead of Williams. She also won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay with her teammates,

Joy Udo-Gabriel Joy Udo-Gabriel (born 2 June 1999) is a Nigerian sprinter. She won a bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 2018 African Championships, a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as well as a gold medal in the 4 ...

Blessing Okagbare Blessing Oghnewresem Okagbare-Otegheri (born 9 October 1988) is a former Nigerian track and field athlete who specialized in Long jump and sprints. She is an Olympic and World Championships medalist in the long jump, and a world medalist in th ...

and

Rosemary Chukwuma Rosemary Chukwuma (born 5 December 2001) is a Nigerian sprinter. She won a bronze medal in the metres relay at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as well as a gold medal in the metres relay at the 2019 African Games. In 2018, she won a gold medal ...

. Later in the year, she won her first African Championship title in her signature event at the Asaba African Championships. This fulfilled a Nigerian tradition being 11th gold for Nigeria in the 100 m hurdles since Judy Bell-Gam triumphed at the inaugural edition of the championships in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. She also claimed a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the championships.

2019: Second African Games title

In August, the 22-year-old successfully defended her African Games title. On 5 October at the World Championships in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

, Qatar, she ran a personal best of 12.48 s during the 100 m hurdles qualifying rounds. In the semi-finals the following day, she equaled this personal best before placing fourth a few hours later in the final with a time of 12.49 s.

2021: First Nigerian Diamond League champion

Amusan finished again fourth at the delayed

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

with a time of 12.60 s. She later competed in the

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

final event, which she won in a new African record of 12.42 s, breaking 23-years-old best of 12.44 s held by her compatriot

and becoming the first Nigerian to win a Diamond League trophy.

2022: World, Commonwealth, African and Diamond League champion

In June, Amusan defended her 100 m hurdles title at the

African Championships An African Championship is a top level international sports competition between African athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships ;Athletics *African Championships in Ath ...

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with a time of 12.57 s. She also competed in the women's 4 × 100 m relay to earn second gold medal. The same month, she lowered her African record in her specialist event with a 12.41 s clocking, when winning at the

meet in

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. The 25-year-old entered the World Athletics Championships held in

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in July as a medal contender after back-to-back fourth-place finishes. In the heats she again bettered her African record with a time of 12.40 s, improving by a further 0.01 s. In the semifinal, Amusan set a new world record of 12.12 seconds, breaking the previous best of 12.20 s set by American Kendra Harrison in 2016. She bested her time once again in the final, running 12.06 s (2.5 m/s wind assisted, thus not a legal WR), becoming the first Nigeria's world champion at the World Athletics Championships and world record holder in an athletics event. In August at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

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, Amusan successfully defended her title, winning her second consecutive gold medal in the 100 m hurdles with a new Games record of 12.30 s. She also helped power Nigeria's women's 4 × 100 m relay team to gold. She competed in her specialist event at the

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

Diamond Race meet later that month, finishing second with a time of 12.60 s, behind reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. Amusan wrapped up her long and successful 2022 campaign by winning 100 m hurdles at the Zürich Diamond League final event with a 12.29 s performance to retain her title. She finished ahead of

Lolo Jones Lori Susan "Lolo" Jones (born August 5, 1982) is an American hurdler and bobsledder who specializes in the 60-meter and 100-meter hurdles. She won three NCAA titles and garnered 11 All-American honors while at Louisiana State University. She wo ...

Britany Anderson Britany Anderson (born 3 January 2001) is a Jamaican athlete. Career Anderson, the 2017 world U18 champion, who won silver at the 2018 World Athletics U20 Championships, twice broke the world U20 record of 12.84, which had been set by Cuba’s ...

, and Camacho-Quinn in fourth, setting a new meet record in the process.

Personal life

She's close friends with fellow Nigerian athlete Ese Brume

Achievements

International competitions

Circuit win and titles

champion 100 m hurdles: Diamond blue

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

:: 100 m hurdles wins, other events specified in parenthesis :*

Zürich Weltklasse , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () ...

() :*

: Paris Meeting (AR), Zürich ()

National and NCAA titles

* Nigerian Championships ** 100 m hurdles: 2021, 2022 ** 4 × 100 m relay: 2022 *

NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships are the annual collegiate track and field competitions for women athletes representing Division I institutions organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). At ...

** 100 m hurdles:

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Personal bests

Awards and honours

;2022 * Confederation of African Athletics Female Athlete of the Year

References

External links

* * * * *
Oluwatobiloba Amusan
at All-Athletics {{DEFAULTSORT:Amusan, Tobi 1997 births Living people People from Ijebu Ode Nigerian female sprinters Nigerian female hurdlers Olympic female hurdlers Olympic athletes of Nigeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics African Games gold medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 African Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Nigeria Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Nigeria Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Yoruba sportswomen Sportspeople from Ogun State African Championships in Athletics winners Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Diamond League winners World Athletics record holders