Tobi Amusan ,the 100m hurdles World record holder has opened up on how officials in Nigeria caused her to feel that she can't make it in athletics and how it nearly made her quit the game.
Tobi Amusan broke the 100m hurdles record at the World Alhletics competition in Oregon. She ran the 100m hurdles at a record of 12.06 seconds and broke all records before her including her 12.12 seconds race in the semi-final of the competition.
Tobi hailed from Ogun State, Nigeria and had her primary school education and preliminary athletics preparing in Nigeria prior to going to Texas, USA on grant to additional her schooling and develop her athletics .
Addressing BBC, Amusan explained her visit in Nigeria and how challenging it was. She talked about how officials in the 2013 African Youth Games didn't pick her for ladies' relay team regardless of being skilled. But , however,later won the bronze medal in long jump category.
The officials were continuously picking who they wanted in the relay team. Once in a while they would agree that I didn't have the experience so they would pick whoever was their number favorite," Amusan said.
"“It was a lot of pressure on a young athlete. I considered quitting. I really wanted to travel with the senior national team and some coaches told me to try the hurdles.”
However, changing to hurdles, Amusan uncovered that she actually needed to overcome the doubts from the officials prior to being picked to represent Nigeria where she brought home her most memorable senior hurdles championship at the African Games in Congo-Brazzaville in 2015.
"The typical Nigerian approach is to make you feel like you cannot make it,” she said
Tobi Amusan crying bittersweet tears delight as she accepted her gold medal at the World Alhletics Championship, Oregon.
"“I wasn’t expected to medal at those Games. There were so many voices saying I couldn’t but I used that to show that I could – and that title changed my life.
"That’s how I got a scholarships to the United States. I can say that’s really when my athletics career began. I never dreamt of going to the United States. I just wanted to run fast and be one of the Nigerian greats.”
Since moving to go to the University of Texas, El Paso, Amusan has been thoroughly prepared and enlightened in the Athletics world.
She won gold in the 100m hurdles in 2018 at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, and furthermore brought home her most memorable African Titles title in Nigeria.
Be that as it may, the 25-year-old has distressingly passed up a platform finish at two significant occasions, completing fourth two times at the 2019 and 2021 Big showdowns in Doha and Tokyo separately.
"2019 was tough because I remember running the fastest time in the qualification rounds, around the same time in the semi-finals and the same time in the final,” she said.
“I ran so fast but wasn’t fast enough to get a medal. I was broken, I was devastated. That was one of the most horrible experiences.
“I moved on, and then came the Tokyo Olympics. Things just crumbled a month before when I strained my hamstring at practice.”
Things are currently going well for the Athletic Queen, Tobi Amusan as she is presently bring praised all around the world for her greatness.
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