World 100m hurdles record holder at 12.12 seconds, Tobi Amusan will be seeking to become the second Nigerian woman to successfully defend an African Games title in the same event twice after Vivian Chukwuemeka who won the Shot Put title thrice viz 1999 in South Africa, 2003 in Nigeria and 2007 in Algeria.
The petite former World 100m hurdles champion won her first African Games high hurdles title on her debut in 2015 and successfully defended it in 2019, setting a new 12.68 seconds Games record in the process.
The 26 year old will now be seeking a third straight title in the event to achieve what no woman has achieved in the event and what only one Nigerian woman has achieved in track and field in Games’ history.
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Amusan will not only join Chukwuemeka as the two women in that exclusive list but also Adewale Olukoju who happens to be the first Nigerian, man or woman to achieve the feat.
Olukoju is on record as the first Nigerian track and field athlete to win an individual event three straight times. He won the Discuss throw event in 1987 in Nairobi Kenya, 1991 in Cairo, Egypt and 1995 in Harare, Zimbabwe.
If Amusan wins in Accra, Ghana, she will also extend Nigeria’s dominance in the event to 12-0. Since Modupe Oshikoya won the 100m hurdles gold in 1973 in Lagos when it moved from 80m hurdles in 1965 to 100m hurdles eight years later, Nigerian sprint hurdlers have won successive editions with only Amusan who has successfully defended the crown.
