Tobi Amusan, once considered quitting athletics after being left out of women’s relay team at 2013 Africa Youth Games in Warri
Written by News Room on July 27, 2022
World champion and record holder in the 100m women’s hurdles, Tobi Amusan, said she once considered quitting athletics after being left out of the women’s relay team at the 2013 Africa Youth Games in Warri.
She went on to win bronze in the long jump instead, but she admitted she was frustrated with the way officials selected athletes for events based on whoever was their favourite.
However, her disappointment turned blessing, after some coaches advised her to switch to the less attractive hurdles event, where she soldiered on to become the world champion after several attempts on Monday morning (Nigerian time).
Even as a hurdler, she stated that she had to overcome doubts from officials, before she picked up her first senior hurdles title at the African Games in Congo-Brazzaville in 2015, regretting that the typical Nigerian approach is to make you feel like you cannot make it.
She said her athletics career began when she got a scholarship to the United States, adding that since moving to attend the University of Texas, El Paso, she has not looked back.
She won gold in the 100m hurdles at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, and later the same year took her first African Championships title on home soil in Asaba.
Yet at major global events, she would agonisingly miss out on medals – finishing fourth at the World Championships in Doha three years ago and then again in Tokyo last year.
Ango Bally
