All eyes have now turned to sprint
hurdler, Tobi Amusan as Nigerla’s chances of returning from the ongoing 2023 World Championships begin to fade away after long jumper, Ese Brume was denied a third straight medal in the last round of the event.
Both Amusan and Brume won
Nigeria’s two medals last year at the
18th edition of the championships to
equal the country’s best medal haul
at a single edition of the competition.
With Brume now out of the picture,
Amusan now carries a weight of
expectations and the 26-year-old will
begin her World 100m hurdles title
defence at exactly 6:12pm today [Tuesday, August 22] at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary.
Amusan was cleared Thursday last week to compete after the Athletics Integrity Unit, AIU, freed her from a Whereabouts Failures charge.
The Nigerian has been drawn to run from lane four, just outside 0lympics bronze medal winner, Megan Tapper of
Jamaica in the fifth and final heat of the first round.
The reigning Nigeria, African, Commonwealth, and Diamond League champion will be seeking to be one of the four automatic qualifiers for the semifinals.
The world record holder will be looking to successfully defend her title to complete a successful defence of all five titles she has won at national, continental, and world levels.
At this stage last year, Amusan started her campaign to immortality with a 12.40 African record before smashing the 12.20 world record set by Kendra Harrison in 2016 with an incredible 12.12 run.
The petite sprint hurdler completed her astonishing run with a historic gold medal in the final, running a wind-aided
12.06 to become the first Nigerian world outdoor champion.
Meanwhile, two more Nigerians crashed out of their respective events on Monday. Ezekiel Nathaniel failed to become the second Nigerian to run in the final of the 400m hurdles after Henry Amike (1987) after crashing out at the semifinal stage. Sprinter, Rosemary Chukwuma, also failed to become the fifth Nigerian to run in the women’s 100m final after placing
eighth in her semifinal heat on Monday.
Mary Onyali, Mercy Nku, Damola Osayomi, and Blessing Okagbare are the four Nigerian ladies who have competed in the final of the blue riband event.
By Dare Esan
