Tobi Amusan breaks 25-year African indoor 60m hurdles record

Nigerian sprint hurdles star Tobi Amusan has started the year by setting yet another impressive record.

Amusan, who is currently the African, Commonwealth and world record in women’s outdoor 100m hurdles, started her 2024 season with a new indoor record yesterday.

The 26-year-old won the women’s 60m final at the World Indoor Tour in Astana, Kazakhstan in a time of 7.77 seconds to retire the 7.82 seconds record set by Gloria Alozie in Madrid, Spain, in 1999.

Amusan has broken two of Alozie’s records (Africa Championship and African Games) and will aim to become the second Nigerian high hurdler after Alozie to make the podium at the World Indoor Championships in March.

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The time is not only a new personal best for Amusan, it is also the new African record in the event.

Amusan had clocked 7.91s to qualify for the final, where she took it a notch higher with the gold-winning 7.77s run ahead of Nia Ali of the United States and Ireland’s Sarah Lawin, who finished second and third, respectively.

The victory opens a new chapter of her career following the controversies that trailed her in 2023.

It will be recalled Tobi was provisionally suspended for missing three drug tests within 12 month which was later lifted few days to the World Athletics Championship which held at Budapest, Hungary last year. 

She lost her world women’s 100m hurdles crown to Jamaica’s Danielle Williams after she finished sixth in the final at the National Athletics Center.

She, however, emerged from the controversy to win her third consecutive Diamond League trophy in Eugene, Oregon, US. while setting a world record with a time of 12.12secs in the semi-final. She went on to win gold in the final with a time of 12.06secs that did not go into the record books because the tailwind was too strong.

Also in 2022, Amusan also won gold medals in the 100m hurdles and the 4x100m relays at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. With the Paris Olympics looming, Tobi will be vying for her first-ever medal in June 2024.