UPDATED: Amusan fails to qualify for 100m hurdles final

The tale of woes for Team Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games continued on Friday with World Record holder, Tobi Amusan, failing to qualify for the final of the 100m hurdles event.

Amusan finished third in her Heat with a time of 12.55 seconds.

Having missed out on the two automatic spots, “Tobi Express”, as she is fondly referred to, was hoping to sneak through as one of the fastest losers.

Unfortunately, the time was not enough to see Amusan earn a spot among the last eight standing.

Amusan, the 100m Hurdles World Record holder, made a statement at the Paris 2024 Olympics, winning her heat and advancing to the semifinals with a blistering time of 12.49 seconds on Wednesday but failed to improve on that in Friday’s semi-final.

Amusan did not have the best of starts from the blocks and though she pushed hard towards the end, it was too little too late.

Elusive medal

Despite her impressive collection of medals from various competitions, including the World Championship, Commonwealth Games, African Championship, African Games, and Diamond League, an Olympic medal has eluded her.

Amusan’s Olympic journey began in 2016 at the Rio Games, where she didn’t go beyond the semifinals.

She came agonizingly close to a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing fourth.

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Now, at 27, Amusan appeared ripe for a medal at the Paris Games, but unfortunately, she finished ninth overall in the semi-final, failing to make it to the last race.

It remains to be seen whether Tobi Amusan, Nigeria’s flagbearer in Paris, will aim for another podium finish at the next 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, United States, or if she will choose to conclude her Olympic journey after this edition.