Amusan becomes third Nigerian track star to be inducted into UTEP Hall of Fame
Sprint hurdler following in the footsteps of Adeniken and Okagbare
World 100m hurdles record holder, Tobiloba Amusan has been inducted into the University of Texas in El Paso, UTEP, Hall of Fame.
The petite, 2022 World champion competed for the Miners for two seasons (2016-17) and won the 100m hurdles (12.57) at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships, defeating Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico who was the defending champion.
Amusan was a three-time All-American, finishing runner-up in the event at NCAA’s in 2016. She was also a five-time Conference USA champion and holds the school record in the 60m hurdles indoors (7.98) and the 100-meter hurdles outdoors (12.57).
She is also a four-time African Games champion, four-time African champion, three-time Diamond League champion, and two-time Commonwealth Games champion and was inducted into the Conference USA Hall of Fame in 2023.
Amusan has thus become the third Nigerian super star track athlete to be inducted after Olapade Adeniken who competed as a Miner from 1989 to 1992 and Blessing Okagbare who was at UTEP between 2007 and 2010.
Adeniken who claimed the 1992 NCAA Outdoor Championship titles in the 100 and 200m and was one of only seven Miners in UTEP history to claim a pair of crowns at a single national meet was inducted in 2010.
He finished his career as a 14-time All-American and an 11-time Western Athletic Conference champion and set the indoor and outdoor 200m school records and set a new standard in the outdoor 100 meters in 1992 – he currently ranks second all-time in all three events. The three-time Olympian was a silver medalist in the 400-meter relay at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Okagbare who was one of three finalists for The Bowerman Award during her senior year at UTEP — the highest honor given to collegiate track and field student-athletes by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) was inducted in 2017.
She won NCAA crowns in the 100 meters and long jump during the 2010 outdoor season, the first athlete in collegiate history to achieve such a feat. During the 2010 indoor season, she won national titles in the 60 meters and long jump, setting a meet record in the latter event.
Okagbare was an 11-time All-American and a 15-time conference champion at UTEP. She was a silver medalist in the long jump at the 2008 Olympic Games and won another silver medal in the long jump and a bronze in the 200m at the 2013 World Championships.
