African record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles Tobi Amusan claimed her second consecutive gold medal after overcoming the wet and windy conditions at the Cote d’Or National Sports Complex to secure victory in a wind-aided time of 12.57s on Day 2 of the ongoing African Senior Athletics Championships in Mauritius.
Liberia’s Leea Ebony Morrison and Marione Fourie of South Africa settled for silver and bronze medals respectively with times of 12.77s and 12.93s.
Amusan won her first gold medals four years ago at the 21st edition of the championship in Asaba and has now become the third Nigerian after Maria Usifo (1984 and 1985) and Glory Alozie (1996,1998 and 2000), and the fifth African to successfully defend the sprint hurdles title.
The 2021 Diamond League Trophy winner was however denied the chance of breaking Alozie’s 12.77s championship record set at the 1998 edition of the championship in Dakar, Senegal, by an excessive 4.0m/s tailwind, the same way her winning time of 12.63s set in the heats was accompanied by a tailwind of +2.5m/s.
In the 100m men’s final, reigning African Games fastest man, Raymond Ekevwo ran 10.03s in the men’s race but ended up in fourth place thereby extending Nigeria’s wait for the blue riband event’s crown beyond 12 years after Olusoji Fasuba won in 2008 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
African record holder in the event, Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, and defending champion, Akani Simbine of South Africa both ran a wind-aided 9.93s but the former was crowned Africa’s speed king to become the second Kenyan after Joseph Gikinyo in 1990 to win the event.
In the women’s sprints final, Tima Godbless also finished fourth, running an impressive 11.27s in the race that saw Gambia’s Gina Bass win in 11.06s. Niger’s Aminatou Seyni Moumouni (11.09) and South Africa’s Carina Horn (11.14) came in second and third respectively.