Nigeria’s 100m hurdles world record holder, Tobi Amusan, finished in second position with a time of 12.60s (-1.7m/s) behind the USA’s Grace Stark, who won with a time of 12.58s on Saturday, July 20, at the pre-Olympics race in Florida.
Amusan, Team Nigeria’s medal hopeful for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics, began the race with a poor start but recovered early, increasing her speed and clearing the hurdles at the Mike Holloway Pro Classic.
The Nigerian sprinter’s quick recovery helped her secure second place, with Stark maintaining her lead and finishing slightly ahead of Amusan.
Earlier, in the heats, Amusan coasted to victory with a time of 12.49s, ahead of US Champion Masai Russell, who finished in 12.51s.
The 27-year-old will be heading to Paris in a bid to become Nigeria’s first athlete in history to win both a world outdoor and an Olympic title, or at least to match the feat of Glory Alozie, who claimed a silver medal at Sydney 2000.
The Paris 2024 Olympics will start on July 26 and end on August 11.
