Tobi Amusan Paris 2024 Olympic Games - Day 14 - Athletics - Source: Getty

What happened to world record holder Tobi Amusan at the Paris Olympics? All about the big shocker to Nigeria

Modified Aug 09, 2024 13:13 GMT

Tobi Amusan, the 100m hurdles world record holder, failed to secure passage into the 100m hurdles final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She ran the semi-final race in a time of 12.55s behind Grace Stark of the USA and Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas, falling short of finishing in the top two. Amusan was looking to bag her maiden Olympic gold in the event.

The Nigerian track and field star won the 100m hurdles semi-finals at the 2022 World Championships in 12.12s, setting the world record. In the finals, she clocked 12.06 seconds (+2.5 m/s) to win the event, becoming the first-ever Nigerian world champion and world record holder in an athletics event.

Tobi Amusan has the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games, as well as the 2015, 2019, and 2023 African titles on her impressive resume. She is a three-time Diamond League champion, having achieved a three-peat in 2021-2023. The 27-year-old competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics 100m hurdles finals, but a fourth-place finish in 12.60s pushed her golden dreams further.

Cut to the 2024 Paris Olympics, the world record holder topped her respective heat in 12.49s but couldn't finish in the top two in the semi-finals. As per the women's 100m hurdles line-up on the official Olympics page, Amusan is not among the nine women vying for glory.

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn will enter the final race as the defending Olympic champion. Her American counterparts, Alaysha Johnson and Russell Masai looked strong in the build-up, with the latter holding the world's fastest time in 2024. Grace Stark also won her respective heat with a time of 12.39s to prove herself a worthy competitor of Camacho-Quinn.

The women will take the final track on August 10 at 7:35 pm.

Tobi Amusan was calm and confident about her race at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Tobi Amusan's strikeout from the roster was a big upset to her and the Nigerian athletic community. But she was confident coming into the Games, especially after topping the 100m hurdles heats.

"I think this year is more of having fun and executing my race and just keeping calm. I think that is going in the right direction. I just act like an underdog coming into every race and just have fun with it... I prepared all my life for this and I think I'm ready," she said. (via "Athletics Africa" YouTube page)

Tobi Amusan, who won her first African Games title at 18, missed out on the opportunity to compete in the Olympic finals, let alone seeing herself on the coveted podium.