The current world champion and 110-metre hurdles world record holder, Tobi Amusan, has suffered a shock exit from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Amusan, who was Nigeria’s biggest shot at winning a medal at the games in Paris, failed to reach the 100-metre hurdles final after finishing third in her heat with a time of 12.55 seconds.
The 27-year-old finished behind the USA’s Grace Stark and Devynne Charlton of Bahrain, who ran 12.39s and 12.50s, respectively.
With two people qualifying automatically from each heat, Amusan’s only hope of reaching the final was through the non-automatic slot, which needed two more people with the fastest time among the non-qualifiers; however, her 12.55s were not good, as she missed out on the two remaining slots.
According to Making of Champions on X, Amusan placed ninth overall in the semifinals, narrowly missing out on a spot in the championship match.
Tobi Amusan’s Olympic hopes dashed
This will come as a huge blow to Tobi Amusan and Team Nigeria as a whole, who were counting on her to win the nation’s first Olympic medal in this year’s events after the D’Tigress’ quarterfinal exit and Favour Ofili’s failure to make the top three at the 200-metre final.
Rather, the iconic hurdler, who set the world record of 12.12 seconds at last year’s World Championships, was unable to replicate that blistering form on the biggest stage, leaving her country’s supporters devastated as her Olympic journey comes to an abrupt end.
