By Dare Esan:
Reigning Commonwealth Games sprint hurdles queen, Tobiloba Amusan will be among the eight best athletes who will line up at
the AG Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, Belgium on Friday, August 31st, 2018 to battle for the $50,000 top prize on offer, the honour of being crowned Diamond League champion and a wild card to the IAAF World Championship in Doha,Qatar next year despite finishing seventh in London on Sunday, Completesportsnigeria.com reports.
The petite hurdler ran a new personal season’s best of 12.68 seconds to finish seventh ahead of her only threat to a top eight finish in the qualification standing,Denmark’s Isabelle Pedersen who finished in eighth position (12.73 seconds).
Amusan was tied on points (10) with Pedersen and USA’s Jasmin Towers before the IAAF Diamond League meeting at the London
stadium and the Nigerian only needed to race home first before the duo to secure the spot for Brussels.
With Stowers out of contention in London,it was thus a straight fight with the Dane and Amusan triumphed and will now be running in the final of the event.
The Nigerian will battle a world class field that will include reigning wordl record holder (12.20 seconds) in the event,Kendra Harrisson of the USA who won in London with a new world leading time of 12.36 seconds as well as the woman she dethroned as world leader,another American,Briana Mcneal.
Also going to Brussels are Sharika Nelvis (USA),Nadine Visser of the Netherlands,two other Americans, Christinna Manning and Dawn Harper-Nelson as well as Jamaica’s Danielle Williams who lost the Commonwealth Game sgold to the Nigerian in Gold Coast,Australia last April.
Amusan will now join compatriot, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor who, despite having an indifferent season has qualified for the
100m final which will hold a day earlier at the Weltklasse in Zurich, Switzerland.
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