Sprint hurdler Tobiloba Amusan will be seeking to become the first Nigerian athlete, dead or alive to be crowned champion at all levels of athletics in the same year as she bids to successfully defend the Commonwealth Games title she won four years ago in Gold Coast, Australia.
The petite, 25 year-old ran a wind-aided 12.40 seconds to qualify for the final of the 100m hurdles scheduled to hold on today at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.
A win on today will make Amusan the first and only Nigerian to be crowned African, Commonwealth and World Champion in the same year.
In June, the World Athletics Diamond League Trophy winner successfully defended her African Championships title, storming to a wind-aided 12.57 seconds, the fastest time in all conditions in the event’s history at the championships.
The Nigerian followed up with a historic feat as she won the 100m hurdles title at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA to become the first Nigerian to be crowned a world champion at World Athletics’ flagship event, the World Athletics Championships.
Amusan did that in record-breaking fashion, running a new 12.12 seconds world record to become the first Nigerian track and field star to set a world record.
Today, the Nigerian will be seeking her treble and a special place in Nigerian athletics history.
Amusan will not only become the first Nigerian track and field athlete to successfully defend a Commonwealth Games title if she wins, she will also become the second woman in the competition to do so after Australia’s Sally Pearson (2010 and 2014).
Quartermiler Fatimah Yusuf remains the closest Nigerian athlete to successfully defend a Commonwealth Games track and field medal. She won the 400m title in 1990 but was denied a successful defence four years later in Victoria, Canada by Australian Cathy Freeman.