Amusan makes history, becomes first athlete from Nigeria to win Diamond League trophy

Nigeria’s 100m hurdles queen Oluwatobiloba Amusan has written her name in the history books as she became the first Nigerian ever to win a Diamond League trophy since the inception of the competition in 2010.

Despite performing brilliantly at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Amusan saw her Olympics dreams dashed as she finished in fourth place and narrowly missed out on a medal in the women’s 100m hurdles. In the aftermath of the event, she started that she was going to knuckle down and work harder because she knew she was held back mentally during the course of that final.

Upon returning from Tokyo, the 24-year-old Commonwealth champion Amusan participated in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Diamond League. She came close to winning in Brussels on September 3rd, where she was deemed to have finished in second place despite finishing at exactly the same time as winner, Netherlands’ Nadine Visser, completing the race in 12.69 seconds. Jamaican Olympics bronze medalist Megan Tapper finished in third place with a time of 12.77 seconds.

Eager to continue to improve and test herself against the best, Amusan went toe to toe with these women again at the Zurich Diamond League, and this time, there was no stopping her as she absolutely dominated the race. Amusan ran a personal best time of 12.42 seconds to break the African record of 12.44 seconds set by Nigeria’s Glory Alozie in 1998. She was well clear of the Dutchwoman Visser, who finished in second place with a time of 12.51 seconds, and Tapper in third place with a time of 12.55 seconds.

Amusan has secured the first trophy by a Nigerian in the Diamond League since its inception in 2010, and has been granted a wild card slot for the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA. She is also expected to receive a prize money of $30,000. Amusan’s time of 12.42 seconds is the third fastest in the world this year. The petite sprinter will surely continue to perform at this level and build a head of steam ahead of the World Athletics Championship next year.