The World Athletics has ratified the world record set by Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan in the women’s 100m hurdles semi-final at the Athletics Championships in Oregon in July, 2022, according to a statement published Tuesday, on the athletics body’s official website.
Amusan ran a time of 12.12 seconds to defeat former world record holder, Kendra Harrison, who had set the world record in the 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.20 seconds in 2016, at the London Müller Anniversary Games.
The 25-year-old was, however, not done as she followed that remarkable performance with a wind-assisted 12.06 (2.5m/s) to win the final.
“The goal was to come out and to win this gold, Honestly, I believe in my abilities, but I was not expecting a world record at these championships,” a surprised Amusan had said in an interview after her record-breaking run.
According to CHANNELS TV, the time of 12.12 seconds makes it the official world record to beat in the women’s hurdles.
Despite the amazing feat, former world and Olympic record holder in the 200m and 400m, Michael Johnson, questioned the legitimacy of the clock, implying some level of foul play.
“I don’t believe 100h times are correct. World record broken by .08! 12 PBs set. 5 National records set. And Cindy Sember quote after her PB/NR ‘I thoroughly I was running slow!’ All athletes looked shocked (sic).
“Heat 2 we were first shown a winning time of 12.53. A few seconds later it shows 12.43. Rounding down by .01 is normal. .10 is not,” queried the legendary track king.
Amusan became the first Nigerian world champion in an athletics event when she won the 2022 World Athletics Championships 100 metres hurdles gold medal.
She is also the current African, Commonwealth and World Champion in the 100m hurdles as well as the record holder in the three competitions.
On September 15th, Amusan bagged the officer of the order of the Niger (OON) award as president Muhammadu Buhari honoured the country’s athletes for their spectacular performances in several competitions.
