Tobi Amusan, Nigeria’s representative at the Paris 2024 Olympics, is set to start her quest for an Olympic medal as she competes in the initial round of the women’s 100m hurdles at the Stade de France today, as reported by NewsNow.
Amusan, who holds the world record, is a key contender for Nigeria to secure medals at the event and will be aiming to enhance the country’s medal count in her third participation at the multi-sport competition.
While Amusan is considered one of the top contenders for the gold medal, the competition will be stiff, with challengers like Devynne Charlton from the Bahamas, Alaysha Johnson from the USA, world champion Danielle Williams, and the current Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn from Puerto Rico also in the mix.
The opening round of the competition commences at 9:15 am Nigerian time today, followed by the semi-finals on Friday, August 9, and the final scheduled for Saturday, August 10.
Amusan will participate in the first of five heats, where the top three from each heat, along with the three fastest non-automatic qualifiers from the five races, will progress to the semi-finals, while the rest will get another chance in the repechage round.
Leading up to the Olympics, the 27-year-old has shown excellent form, achieving a season’s best and world-leading time of 12.40s (0.9) at the Jamaican Athletics Invitational in Kingston in May.
Earlier in the year, she broke the African 60m hurdles indoor record twice in January and February.
In March, she secured her third consecutive African Games title in Ghana and clinched gold in the women’s 4x100m relay in Accra, as well as at the African Championships in Cameroon three months later.
Throughout this season, she has engaged in 17 events, including the 60m, 100m, 100m hurdles, and the 4x100m relay.
Amusan, a three-time Diamond League winner in a row, two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist, two-time African champion, and three-time African Games gold medalist, has previously participated in two Olympic Games (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020).