Amusan runs wind-legal 12.12 seconds in semifinals to eclipse 2016 world record of 12.20 produced by Harrison, then lowers time with wind-aided 12.06 effort in final to secure first World Championships gold medal in any event for her country; Eight of top 30 all-conditions marks in history achieved Sunday

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Tobi Amusan has called herself the “almost girl” in the 100-meter hurdles.

Despite boasting a career resume that includes an NCAA Division 1 title at UTEP, along with multiple titles at the African Championships and a Commonwealth Games gold medal, when it comes to the Olympics and World Athletics Championships, the Nigerian athlete had just missed the podium with fourth-place finishes at the past two global finals.

On Sunday night in Eugene, Ore., Amusan was simply: “the woman.”

The 5-foot-1 Amusan became a giant in the 100 hurdles by producing the world record with a wind-legal 12.12 performance in the semifinals, only to return to the Hayward Field track less than two hours later to run a wind-aided 12.06 (+2.5 m/s) in the final to become the first Nigerian competitor to win a World title in any event in meet history.

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Jamaica’s Britany Anderson, 21, edged reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, 25, of Puerto Rico by a 12.224 to 12.229 margin to secure silver for her first global medal, with American Alia Armstrong, 21, finishing fourth following an all-conditions career-best 12.31 performance.

“I’ve been that ‘almost girl’ at every championship and finally I can say that I did it,” said Amusan, who eclipsed the 2016 mark of 12.20 achieved by American Keni Harrison in 2016 at the London Diamond League event.

“You know I’m elated. It’s been a journey and I’m thankful to God for keeping me healthy. I couldn’t be more thankful to come out with a win and world record. It’s crazy.”

Amusan, 25, triumphed at Hayward Field in 2017 by clocking 12.57 to win the Division 1 title, but only advanced to the semifinals at the World Championships that summer in London, finishing 14th overall.

Although she won the Commonwealth Games gold medal and prevailed at the African Championships in 2018, when it came to the marquee showdown later that year at the Continental Cup in the Czech Republic, Amusan finished fifth.

Despite running 12.49, she missed the podium by 0.02 in Doha, and was edged out again by less than a tenth of a second in Tokyo following a 12.60 effort in the final.

But her friends, Nigerian teammates and competitors in the sport knew she was capable of a breakthrough performance in Eugene, especially after Amusan led all qualifiers into the semifinals with a wind-legal mark of 12.40 in Saturday’s opening round.

“Last night, I was watching (Shaunae Miller-Uibo) on Instagram and I saw a little snippet of what Tobi wrote: incoming world record holder. To see it unfold today, I am proud of her. She wrote things into existence,” said 29-year-old Jamaican Danielle Williams, the 2015 World champion and 2019 bronze medalist who placed sixth Sunday in 12.44.

“Tobi is one of my closest friends on the circuit, one of the 100 hurdles girls I spoke to the most. This is not short of inspiration. I know what Tobi has gone through over the years. She’s been fourth twice. I know it’s not an easy position. She’s been close to throwing the towel because we have spoken about that and I have had those feelings as well. To see her come out here and do this right now, it’s amazing.”

Amusan’s championship race was immediately followed by friend and teammate Ese Brume, 26, securing a silver medal for Nigeria in the women’s long jump final with a third-round mark of 23-0.50 (7.02m), only trailing back-to-back World champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany at 23-4.50 (7.12m).

“I am super proud of our team. Last championships, we just got one medal. Now we are getting out with two medals. So I am grateful for myself and for my friends and I hope it is going this way,” said Brume, who earned a bronze in 2019 in Doha, followed by Olympic silver in Tokyo and a World Indoor runner-up in March in Serbia.

“It is a wonderful night for Nigeria, for all of us. It was an amazing progression. I was leading and wanted the gold, but I am grateful because last time I got the bronze and I am silver now. Tobi Amusan is my best friend, everybody knows. It was amazing for us because this is what we are trained for. She deserves it so much.”

Amusan was tasked with refocusing, despite achieving the world record and earning the $100,000 bonus that comes with it, in order to compete against one of the deepest fields ever assembled in a global championship.

Harrison ran 12.27 to finish second behind Amusan in their semifinal race, before being disqualified in the final, but the other seven competitors all clocked 12.50 or better to advance to the championship and backed it up by all running 12.53 or faster later in the evening.

Amusan’s world record was the first achieved in the semifinals of any meet since Bulgaria’s Yordanka Donkova – who held the all-time mark at 12.21 from 1988 until Harrison lowered it in 2016 – produced the fastest performances in history twice in the same day by running 12.35 and 12.29 in 1986 in Cologne, Germany.

“Honestly, I believe in my abilities, but I was not expecting a world record at these championships. You know, the goal is always just to execute well and get the win. So the world record is a bonus,” Amusan said. “I knew I had it in me, but I could not believe it when I saw it on the screen after the semis. But it was just a matter of time. And I am thankful. Before the final, I just tried to stay calm and to do my best. I took a deep breath knowing that I have the same goal to accomplish and it worked pretty good. I knew it was very fast, but not this fast. Thanks to God. It has been a long journey.”

After American Sydney McLaughlin lowered the women’s 400-meter hurdles world record Friday to 50.68 seconds, bronze medalist Dalilah Muhammad – the former world record holder, along with an Olympic gold medalist and World champion – said during the post-race press conference that she believed it was now possible for the 22-year-old standout to produce a sub-50 performance over 10 barriers.

Following Amusan’s multiple memorable efforts Sunday, many of her fellow competitors began pondering the prospect of the first sub-12 race ever achieved in the 100 hurdles.

“Last year, after the Olympics, I said that hurdles is evolving,” said Camacho-Quinn, who ran the fastest all-conditions performance of her career after clocking 12.26 in the Olympic semifinals in Tokyo.

“So I feel like, from this point on, it is only going to be faster. We did pretty good. There were a lot of PRs out there today. I think we had the best event of the whole World Champs just because of the times we put on and I am very thankful.”

Williams, who won the 2015 World title in Beijing in a wind-legal 12.57 and took third in 2019 in Doha in 12.47, knows anything is possible after five of the top 15 all-conditions performances in history and eight of the top 30 all-time efforts were achieved Sunday among the semifinal and championship races.

And every 100 hurdles finalist that competed at Hayward Field is still under age 30, with the top four finishers all 25 and younger, led by Amusan, who went from almost walking away from the sport to becoming both a Nigerian legend and the future of the event all in the same night.

“To be a part of the two world record performances is astonishing. Who would think of it? I would never think of 12.0 to be in the cards for the 100 hurdles and now we are getting close to that,” Williams said. “I personally know how much struggle she had to overcome in the past years, so I am very happy for her. She definitely raised the bar of this event.”