Five Records Amusan Will Be Aiming To Break In 2023

For Nigeria and Nigerian athletes, the 2023 athletics season is expected to be one of consolidation.

Last year, a number of Nigerian athletes set new benchmarks for their respective events while for the Athletics Federation Nigeria, AFN, it was a year a number of unprecedented feats were achieved.

Sprint hurdler, Tobi Amusan was the undoubted hero of the year, setting records in historic fashions.

All eyes will still be on the 25 year old to move up a gear, setting a few more records.

Interestingly, a few of the records the reigning Nigeria, Africa, Commonwealth and World 100m hurdles champion will be hoping to set this year are those she broke either last year or in 2019.

There are five records the petite high hurdler should be aiming for in 2023…

100m Hurdles World Outdoor Record (12.12):
Amusan made history last year as the first Nigerian athlete to set an outdoor world record when she ran 12.12 seconds at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA. With the help of a tail wind, she ran faster (12.06) to win the world title, another first by a Nigerian.

Former 110m hurdles record holder, Colin Jackson believes Amusan can run a lega 12.00 seconds in the event to raise expectations of another world record performance by the 25 year old in 2023.

If this is achieved, it will also qualify as an African and a Nigerian record.

60m Hurdles World Indoor Record (7.68):
It is not year clear if Amusan will, like she did last year, skip the indoor season to concentrate on the task of defending three of the titles she hold this year.

If she is making a return, then she will have to do what no other Nigerian nay African sprint hurdlers has done over the 60m hurdles which is to run inside 7.7 seconds.

The best an African athlete has done in the event was the 7.82 her compatriot, Glory Alozie ran in Madrid, Spain in 1999.

It looks a daunting task but who could have ever thought the 12.21 World outdoor record Yordanka Donkova ran in 1988 could ever be broken. Well, American Kendra Harisson did it in 2016, shaving off a 100th of a second off the mark (12.20) before Amusan took it to a different level in Oregon last year.

Don’t bet against Amusan making that history again over the shorter distance?

60m Hurdles African Record (7.82):
With the incredible and unprecedented feats Amusan achieved last year, it should be a piece of cake really for her to break the remaining Nigeria and African record Glory is still holding onto after her successor smashed two in the last three and a half years.

Alozie’s 7.82 run in Madrid, Spain in 1999 is the fastest time ever returned by an African over this distance with Amusan just within a touching distance (7.84).

100m Hurdles Diamond League Record (12.20):
Amusan moved a few 100ths of a second closer to this record held by her Addidas teammate, Kendra Harisson since 2016 when she ran 12.29 to not only set a new Weltklasse meeting record in Zurich last September but also retin her Diamond League crown.

After running 12.12 to set a World record in Oregon last year, athletics faithful believe the 25 year old can add this to her already rich collection of records.

100m Hurdles African Games Record (12.68):
This will be Amusan challenging Amusan and this is seen as the easiest record the Nigerian will rewrite this year.

She broke the record twice in 2019, first running 12.69 in the semis to break Glory Alozie’s 12.74 record set in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1999. She returned to run 12.68 in the final to successfully defend the African Games title she won in 2015.

100m Hurdles Nigerian Championships Record (12.54):
After a faulty electronic timer denied her the record in 2021 in Lagos, Amusan returned in 2022 to accomplish the task, consigning Angela Atede’s 12.63 record to the archives.

The reigning Nigeria 100m hurdles champion will be the overwhelming favourite to not only win for the third time in a row but also set a new record for the Championships.

Culled from Complete Sports

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