Tobi Amusan cemented her place in history as the greatest Nigerian athlete of all time (at least for now), storming her way to a second consecutive Commonwealth Games title, winning the GOLD medal in women’s 100m Hurdles.
It is not just that she successfully defended her title, she also took down Brigitte Foster-Hylton’s longstanding Games Record of 12.65s, shaving off more than three-tenths of a second to run a new record of 12.30s (-0.2).
By winning back-to-back GOLD medals, Amusan became the first Nigerian Track and Field athlete to successfully defend her Commonwealth title, joining Odunayo Adekuoroye (Nigerian wrestler) as the only two athletes to do so.
What Amusan’s recent feat has succeeding in doing, is dousing any doubts that may have arisen after she ran that staggering 12.12s in Eugene, en route registering a windy 12.06s (+2.5) to win the world title.
This is her second fastest legal time, and she ran it into a headwind, which just about endorses her World record. Amusan is a lady in form, and has now gradually mastered the art of winning. Going from two 4th place finishes in Doha and Tokyo, to now being a World & Commonwealth champion, all achieved in a space of two weeks.
Amusan has evolved into a superstar, and is now winning people over in Nigeria, a country where Football is still the dominant sport. However, the interest is now growing in track and field, more people are beginning to keenly follow the sport, taking notes of the little details.
When Amusan won the world title, not many Nigerians knew what wind reading was, and its importance in a race, but since she set the country alight with her heroics, people are now beginning to take their time and learn some of these technicalities.
She is now influencing Track and field in Nigeria, and as long as she continues winning, she will continue trending everyday she competes on social media, because she has now ignited a fire that could change Athletics in her country forever.
