Nigerian female hurdler, Oluwatobiloba Amusan has qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games, following her superlative performance in Doha. The US-based athlete ran a 100m hurdles Season Best of 12.73 seconds on May 3. The qualification standard in the event is 12.84 seconds. The qualification window for Tokyo 2020 opened on May 1.
The Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Sunday Adeleye told The Guardian yesterday that Amusan was the third Nigerian to qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
According to him, US-based male sprinter, Divine Oduduru, and shot putter, US-based Chukwuebuka Enekwachi had booked their tickets earlier.
Oduduru broke records in 100m, 200m races recently in the US, where he ran the world’s fastest time for this year at the 2019 Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas.
He recorded 9.95 seconds in the 100m, the world’s fastest time for this year before running 19.76 seconds in his first 200m of the 2019 season, the second-fastest time ever run by a collegiate athlete.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian contingent to the 2019 IAAF World Relays in Yokohama, Japan will depart Nigeria today for the event, which will hold between May 11 and 12.
Adeleye confirmed to The Guardian yesterday that the athletes and their officials had been issued visas by the Japanese Embassy in Nigeria, adding that the trip to Yokohama would help the athletes secure their lanes ahead of the World Athletics Championships coming up in Doha. 11 athletes, one coach and three AFN officials will make the trip to Yokohama.
The Guardian
