Paris 2024: Amusan zooms into semifinals

Tobi Amusan, the 100m Hurdles World Record holder, has made a resounding statement at the Paris 2024 Olympics, effortlessly winning her heat and advancing to the semifinals on Wednesday.

With a blistering time of 12.49 seconds, “Tobi Express” as she is fondly referred to demonstrated her exceptional skill and speed, leaving her competitors in the dust.

Amusan’s impressive performance comes as no surprise, given her illustrious career.

She has consistently dominated the 100m Hurdles event, claiming gold medals at the World Championship, Commonwealth Games, African Championship, African Games, and Diamond League.

However, an Olympic medal has remained elusive, with her closest attempt being a fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics.

In Wednesday’s heat, Amusan faced stiff competition from USA’s Alaysha Johnson and Janeek Brown.

However, she proved to be in a league of her own, crossing the finish line a convincing 0.12 seconds ahead of Johnson, who secured second place with a time of 12.61 seconds.

Brown trailed behind, completing the race in 12.84 seconds.

With this dominant display, Amusan has sent a clear message to her rivals: she means business at the Paris Games.

With her place the semifinals secured, Amusan who was the flagbearer for Team Nigeria at the opening ceremony is one step closer to realizing her dream of standing on the Olympic podium.
In Heat 2, defending Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won in 12.42s, followed by Cindy Sember and Pia Skrzyszowska, respectively.

In Heat 3, the USA’s Masai Russell came in first with a time of 12.53s, followed by Nadine Visser of the Netherlands in second and Cyrena Samba-Mayela of France in third place. Eighteen athletes are through to the semi-final, scheduled for Friday.