Tobi Amusan Takes a Step Back Hours After Upsetting Loss at New Balance Indoors

An intriguing battle of the track and field Titans took place at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. With each athletic meet acting as a vital warm-up to their national trials, these athletes are grabbing every chance to hone their talents as the countdown to the 2024 Games gets closer. Many records made the highlight of the event including Nigerian sprinter Tobi Amusan breaking another mark in the 60-meter hurdles.

However, following this victory, an unexpected update surfaced bringing attention to the hurdler opting out from the next race’s list. Since no formal statement was made, many are left wondering the reason.

Tobi Amusan finishes second with national record

On Sunday at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, Tobi Amusan, 26, created history again. With a time of 7.75 seconds, she broke the previous record for African women in the indoor 60-meter race. She also beat her personal record set at the Astana Indoor Meet in Kazakhstan last month by just 0.02 seconds. Now, an X post with competing athletes’ names was shared  by @_OwenM_ with the caption, “Tobi will no longer be racing in Toruń tomorrow.”

Tobi Amusan took second place in Boston despite breaking the record, while American icon Tia Jones took first place clocking 7.72 s, followed by Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton in third place with a time of 7.76 s. Amusan has now recorded two of the quickest times ever for an African woman in the 60-meter hurdles. With Charlton at the top after racing 0.1s less than this race in the Texas sprint, she is currently ranked second overall for the season.

On the global all-time list, Amusan has risen to the 20th position and has broken all three of Nigerian-born Spanish track athlete Glory Alozie’s African records. Before earning her maiden Diamond League championship, she broke the African Games record and then surpassed Alozie’s 12.44 African record posing as the new face of national records.

The trail of breaking compatriot’s record

Amusan has been smashing hurdle records since 2021 and is still going strong, breaking more of Gloria Alozie’s records in January 2024. Back in 2021, she not only won the 100-meter hurdles at the Zürich Diamond League final, but she also broke the African record with a time of 12.42 seconds.

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She became the first Nigerian to win a coveted Diamond League trophy shattering Alozie’s 23-year-old record by 0.02 s. Establishing her supremacy in yet another victory, she broke Alozie’s 25-year-old record of 7.82 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles with an outstanding time of 7.77 seconds at the Astana Indoor Meet in Kazakhstan last month.

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