Redemption, respite, relief, these are some of the adjectives African Record holder Oluwatobi Amusan will be seeking when she commences her quest for a global medal in the 100m hurdles at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
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For all of her conquests on the continent, and Commonwealth Games title in 2018, there's an underachievement tag hovering over her career, brought about by the fact that she is yet to win a medal at a major championship.
Amusan will be competing in her third consecutive World Championship, making her bow in 2017 when she made the semifinals in London. Her stock rose when she made the 100m hurdles final two years later in Doha, running three good rounds of 12.4s and coming very close to winning a medal. Amusan finished fourth by just two-tenths off Jamaica's Danielle Williams, who won bronze in 12.47s.
This time around, Amusan will feel that she can finally win a medal, when she starts her campaign running in heat 3 on Saturday. The Nigerian athlete will be up against former world champion Williams and Ebony Morrison, who is competing in her first World championships for Liberia.
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Amusan finished fourth for the second consecutive global championships, and was left shattered, missing out on a podium placement. However, she atoned for that a month later in Zurich, winning the Diamond League title, surpassing Glory Alozie's African record of 12.44s to set a new one of 12.42s.
That was the form she started the 2022 season with, and she’s in good shape going into the championships. Amusan has run the fastest time she’s ever run before July, this time chalking off one-hundredth of a second off her PB to run 12.41s. She goes into the competition in Oregon buoyed by her recent successes, retaining her African title in Mauritius and ranked at No 4 in the world this year.
Although she would want to concentrate solely on her 100m hurdles, there's every possibility Amusan could be drafted into the Nigerian relay team, after the women's 4x100m qualified for the final on Friday.
Nigeria will be aiming to go one step better than they did 11 years ago in Daegu, when Gloria Asumnu, Damola Osayomi, Agnes Osazuwa and Blessing Okagbare finished fifth in 42.93s. Nigeria's quartet of Joy Udo-Gabriel, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Grace Nwokocha, if they start in that order, will look to improve on the 42.68s season's best they ran in the heats.
With the Nigerian men's team dropping the baton in their heat, Ghana and South Africa will represent the continent in the final of the men's 4x100m. Akani Simbine will have to replicate his fast anchor leg like he did in the heats to drag his team into challenging for a medal, while the Ghanaians will count on their quartet of Sean Safo-Antwi, Benjamin Azamati, Joseph Oduro Manu and Joseph Amoah, who ran an SB of 38.58s.
Botswana, if they flawlessly execute two good 4x400m rounds, might add a World Championships medal to their haul. Last season, they became the first African team since Nigeria in 2004 to win an Olympic medal, and they could even become the second African team to win a medal in this event at the World Championships since Nigeria did it at the 1995 edition in Sweden. They are the African holders with their PB of 2:57.27.
Five Africans will compete in the men's 800m final, and the field will be wary of the threat from the Algerians Slimane Moula and Djamel Sedjati, who won their semifinal heats, timing their last sprint to perfection. Defending champion Emmanuel Korir is still the installed favourite to retain his 800m title, but he would work very hard for it if he is to beat Sedjati, who has run 1:43.69 this season.
The Women's 5 000m race is going to be an Ethiopian battle between Letesenbet Gidey and Gudaf Tsegay, both winning their heats convincingly to book their spots in the final. Gidey's 14:52.27 to qualify from the heats does not give the clearest indication if she will make a play for her 5 000m world record of 14:06.62.
At the moment, winning double gold medals will assuage Gidey, knowing she's up against a strong field that has sub 14mins 35s runners like Sifan Hassan, Dawit Seyaum, Margaret Kipkemboi, Beatrice Chebet and Tsegay, who’s aiming for another medal after silver in the 1500m.
In the Men's Triple Jump, two-time African champion and record holder Hugues Fabrice Zango could win his second World Championships medal, going into the final knowing that he is in a good shape to challenge the rest of the field. Zango was in a good form from the qualification rounds, jumping 17.15m. He was the only other athlete over 17.10m behind Pedro Pichardo who jumped 17.16m.
Story by Charles Jerome
ATHLETICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS BROADCAST DETAILS
Times are SA, CAT, GMT+2
23 July
Day 9 Morning Session | 18:50-21:55 | SS Variety 3
24 July
Day 9 Afternoon Session | 01:10-05:35 | SS Variety 3
Day 10 Morning Session | 15:15-00:10 | SS Variety 3
25 July
Day 10 Afternoon Session | 01:50-06:00 | SS Variety 3