Highly-rated female hurdler, Tobiloba Amusan fell just short of winning a medal for Nigeria at this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, as she could only place fourth in a pulsating 100m hurdles final decided in the early hours of Monday.
In contrast with great expectations tipping her for at least a bronze medal, Amusan became the third African to finish just outside the medals in a sprint event in Tokyo as she finished fourth in a race was won by Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.
Ivory Coast’s Ta Lou and South Africa’s Akani Simbine both finished just outside the medals in the women’s and men’s 100m finals respectively, while reigning champion, Faith Kipyegon started her title defence in the women’s 1500m by sailing through to Wednesday’s semi-finals.
Megasportsaena.com gatheerd further that Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo finished second behind Kipyegon to progress along with two more Kenyans – Winny Chebet and Edinah Jebito – as well as Ethiopia’s Lemlem Hailu and Freweyni Gebreezibeher.
Jebito was awarded a place in the semi-finals despite finishing 12th in her heat after she fell alongside Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan, who managed to recover and win the heat, but it was a different story for highly-rated Amusan, who missed a bronze medal by the whiskers.
Amusan, though, gained plaudits from Nigeria’s sports minister, Sunday Akinlabi Dare, who hailed the hurdler’s spirited efforts in reaching the final and during Monday’s ultimate race itself.
The minister noted that it was just hair’s breath that separated the revered hurdler from at least a bronze medal and commended her efforts at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Japan, saying: “Tobi Amusan still remains one of Nigeria’s greatest competitors in athletics.
“She gave a good account of herself. We celebrate her exploits. The important thing to note is that many of our top athletes made it and are still making it to the finals in many events, particularly here at the Olympics.
“(It’s) a competition of huge magnitude where winners are separated in milliseconds. This in itself is an achievement and proof that we are in the committee of the best in respect to many sports in the world.
“This is a new and young generation that will be world beaters anyhow. We still hold hopes for medals in the remaining events we are taking part in.”
