Tobi Amusan smashes 100m hurdles world record at World Championships

Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan poses after setting a world record in the women’s 100m hurdles semi-final during the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on July 24, 2022. (Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP)

Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan in the early hours of Monday broke the women’s 100m hurdles world record in the semi-finals at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Amusan, who was fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and the last worlds in 2019, clocked 12.12 seconds at Hayward Field, an hour and 50 minutes before she contests the final.

Amusan took eight hundredths off American Keni Harrison‘s world record from 2016. Amusan’s previous personal best was 12.40, set in the first round on Saturday in Oregon (Sunday morning in Nigeria).

“I wanted to get out and go,” Amusan said, according to World Athletics. “I did what I had to do. Now I’m looking forward to the finals.”

Harrison was second in the semi-final in 12.27, matching the 11th-best performance in history.

Five of the eight women in the race set personal bests with a .9 meter/second tailwind. The maximum allowable tailwind for record purposes is two meters/second.

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