Abuja – Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has commended Tobi Amusan after she won her country’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Championships.
Amusan stormed to victory in the women’s 100m hurdles on Sunday after obliterating the world record in an astonishing semi-final where she clocked 12.12sec in Eugene, Oregon.
Amusan’s winning time of 2.06sec in the final will not be recognised as a world record, however, due to a strong following win of 2.5 metres per second.
Can we all celebrate Tobi Amusan!!!! She just brought us our first ever World Championship gold! ?????pic.twitter.com/N0Ky3G12nY
— ADE (@debayoorr) July 25, 2022
“The President joins millions of Nigerians in celebrating this outstanding feat by a compatriot and two-time African Games champion, who in one night stunned the athletics world with her superlative and stellar performance,” a presidential statement said.
Buhari said the achievements of Amusan will inspire the upcoming generations of Nigerian athletes to achieve spectacular success.
Nigerian sports minister Sunday Dare said Amusan’s historic victory along with a silver by Ese Brume in the women’s long jump had heralded a new era for the sport in the country.
“I am so proud of what Tobi Amusan, Ese Brume and even those who didn’t get on the podium have achieved in Eugene, Oregon,” the minister said.
“Years of hard work and consistently knocking on the door have yielded the right dividends. For the first time in our history we have a world champion. This is huge.”
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/@hypemanjohnwick
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