The Power of Merit
The Power of Merit
The World Athletics Championships 2022 began on Friday, 15th July and ended on Sunday, 24th July in Eugene, Oregon. The news of Oluwatobi Amusan making history by becoming Nigeria’s first-ever gold winner at the world’s athletics championship has been well received by Nigerians all over the world.
Her performance in 12.12 seconds set her in the first place, with America’s Kendra Harrison, finishing in second place. She has a track record of merit, having displayed excellent performance worthy of praise at many events as shown below;
Amusan was a silver medallist at the 2013 African Youth Championships in Warri. She also claimed gold in the 100 metres hurdles at the 2015 African Junior Athletics Championships in Addis Ababa.
In 2015, while making her All-Africa Games debut as an 18-year-old, she won the gold medal in the 100 metres hurdles. In 2016, as a freshman at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), Amusan became the second athlete for the university to be named C-USA Female Track athlete of the Year since UTEP joined C-USA.
She was the gold medalist in both the 100 mH and the 200m. She also claimed a silver in the long jump at the C-USA Championships. Amusan first broke the 13 s barrier in the hurdles with a time of 12.83 s at the El Paso UTEP Invitational. This eclipsed Kim Turner’s 100 mH UTEP record which had stood for 33 years.
In her first outdoor race of 2017, she ran a then lifetime best and UTEP record of 12.63 s in the 100 metres hurdles. She was the C-USA champion in her specialist event and also the runner-up in the 200 metres. At the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Amusan claimed the title ahead of Camacho-Quinn who was the champion the previous year. She did this in a personal record time of 12.57 s.
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, 2015 World Champion, Danielle Williams seemed to be the favourite to take the title in the absence of Sally Pearson. In the final, however, Amusan moved ahead of her competitors and won the race by a clear metre ahead of Williams.
Later in 2018, she won her first African Championships title in her specialist event at the Asaba African Championships. She also claimed a gold medal in the 4 x 100 m relay at the championships. At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, she ran a personal best of 12.48s during the 100 metre hurdles qualifying rounds. In the semi-finals the following day, she equalled this personal best before placing 4th a few hours later in the final with 12.49s.
In 2021, Amusan finished fourth in the Tokyo Olympics with a time of 12.60s. She later competed in the Zurich Diamond League event, which she won in 12.42s, becoming the first Nigerian to win a Diamond League trophy. Amusan opened her 2022 season by winning the 2022 Diamond League event in Paris, where she set an African record by 0.01s with a time of 12.41s.
She won gold in the 100m hurdles at the 2022 African Championships in Mauritius, defending her title successfully with a time of 12.57s (wind-aided). She also competed in the women’s 4×100m and won gold. Later in 2022, she competed in a Diamond League meet, finishing second with a time of 12.60s, behind Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.
The power of merit is that it breaks all barriers and obstacles. It cannot be hindered by race, skin colour, tribe or religion.
Keep the flag flying Tobi. We are proud of you.
Together we win!
@Nkese Umofia
Christian Youth Mentoring Initiative provides opportunities for mentorship, leadership training, growth, and development of youths. Our vision is to raise well-balanced youths, high flyers, focused, and capable of standing out in the global world. Email us: info@cymi.org.ng
