Tobi Amusan Breaking World Records and Michael Johnson

Yesterday, July 25, 2022, athlete Tobi Amusan made history, completely shattering the 100m hurdles world record. Amusan’s record breaking time was 12.12, beating the record of 12.20 formerly held by American Kendra Harrison in 2016.

Though she bagged the gold in the final, her winning time of 12.6 was eventually ruled out due to strong wind speeds.

Who is Tobi Amusan

Ayomide Oluwatobilola Amusan, popularly known as Tobi Amusan, is a 25 years old Nigerian track star, from Ijebu Ode, Nigeria. Tobi has shown a strong athletic potential from a very young age.

She was a silver medallist at the 2013 African youth championship in warri, won gold at the 100 metres hurdle in the 2015 African Junior Athletics Championship, made her All-African Games Debut when she was just 18, became a gold medallist during her time in the University of Texas, infact, it is clear for all to see that she has a passion and drive that fuels her. Now, she is the first Nigerian to win a gold medal in such an event, The 100 Metres World Record.

These wins come especially commendably as we see a tweet that the Nigerian athlete put out five years earlier:

“Unknown now but soon I will be unforgettable, I will persist until I succeed.”

“I was the ‘almost girl,’” she said in an interview after the race, “I got fourth, fourth, fourth. Now I finally did it.”

This win comes only a month after breaking the African record for the Diamond League in the 100m women’s hurdle. However, regardless of this young woman’s amazing feat, some have stood up to place doubts.

Micheal Johnson (Black Racist?) Twitter Comments

Track legend Michael Johnson, is a 54 years old retired American Sprinter turned commentator, who is a proud winner of 4 Olympic gold medals and 8 World Championships gold medals in the span of his career. Michael has raised questions about the legitimacy of the Nigerian sprinter’s new record on his BBC broadcast. 

He later took to twitter to share his views: “I don’t believe 100h times are correct. World record broken by .08! 12 PBs set. 5 National records set.”

Backlash and Controversy

Johnson’s tweets have since received a large amount of backlash but not before sparking controversy.

He responded to the attacks saying in one tweet: “The level of dumbassery coming across my feed right now is truly staggering!”

And then again in another, “As a commentator my job is to comment. In questioning the times of 28 athletes (not 1 athlete) by wondering if the timing system malfunctioned, I was attacked, accused of racism, and of questioning the talent of an athlete I respect and predicted to win. Unacceptable. I move on.”

Somehow, it also reignited a debate about shoe technology, with more looking for a way to discredit her win.

Amusan was wearing a pair of Adidas Adizero Avanti shoes designed for runners who compete in 5-10 km races, often referred to as ‘super shoes’, rather than track spikes.

There was nothing illegal about the shoes as they were in line with all World Athletics regulations. She started wearing the shoes after a foot injury, in need of more comfort. “My abilities are not centered around spikes,” the record breaker told the press.

Regardless of all arising doubts and controversy, Tobi Amusan still remains the gold medalist and record breaker of the women’s 100m hurdles for the world track and field championships.

The World congratulates her!

Afrolady congratulates her!!

All images are sourced from twitter.com