Tobiloba Amusan has made history by becoming the first Nigerian to win a gold medal at the world athletics championships. The 18th edition of the championships was held in Eugene, Oregon, in the United States. She not only won a gold medal, but she is also currently the world record holder of the 100m hurdles event with a windy 12.06s time. Such a feat stands out even more now as it is a reason for happiness in a country where the government would rather have the people remain sad.
Tobi Amusan shocked everyone with her stellar performance at the recently concluded world athletics championships. The former world record for the 100m hurdles event was set in 2026 and held by Kendra Harrison from the United States with a strong time of 12.20s. Amusan first shattered this record in the semi-finals, finishing in only 12.12s. This left the crowd going wild, but little did they know they were in for more, and the show wasn't over. On the same day, she bested herself in the finals, breaking the record she had initially set. She breezed past her competitors to finish the race with a stunning 12.06s record time. Two world records in one day! Incredible. This feat will not be forgotten for a long time to come.
However, her tale is not one of constant sunshine. She worked tirelessly day after day perfecting her skill with her coaches and paying attention to every little detail. In one of her interviews, Tobi said "I've been that 'almost' girl at every championship and finally I can say that God did it." Her journey has been a cocktail of good and bad days where she got defeated. However, her good days have outweighed the bad, which is all one can hope for.
Tobi stood proudly, her gold medal adorning her neck, as the Nigerian national anthem was played from the speakers at the stadium. Tears trickled down her face as the music progressed, and her lips formed a satisfactory smile. An acknowledgment of the fact that all her hard work has eventually paid off. Her world record earned her a whooping sum of one hundred thousand dollars. Nigeria also had a silver medal at the championships. Ese Brume clinched the silver medal in the long jump event. Hopefully, this will spur the Nigerian government to dedicate more resources to developing talents like theirs.
Her blistering time of 12.06s in the 110m hurdles finals was considered ineligible as a world record. This is because the wind speed during the race was an average of 2.5m/s which was above the allowable limit of 2.0m/s. Some also debate that she employed super shoes that enabled her ride to victory. However, the World Athletics rules indicate that there is nothing illegal about her shoes. The rules indicate that sprint spikes must not have soles thicker than 20mm. Her Adidas Adizero Avanti shoes fit the bill so there is no foul play. In spite of all this, the fact remains that history has been made, and by one of our own.
Her tale is one of passion, determination, consistency, and sheer will. If we look closely enough, there is a lot to learn from her story. What is next for this stellar athlete? Are we going to be seeing sub-12s times soon?
