TRACK & FIELD
Women ’ s 100m Hurdles : From Burnt Gear to World Champ
The 24th of July was undoubtedly the most eye-catching day of the World Championships , with MacLaughlin and Duplantis setting their World Records , but the most remarkable story to come out of the World Championships , and that day ’ s competition , was that of Tobi Amusan in the short hurdles event . In 2016 , the Nigerian pinned a post to her Twitter account that said “ I will persist till I succeed .” Six years later she had won her country ’ s first ever World Title , and had rewritten the 100m hurdles record books .
The World Record came in the semi-finals when 25-year-old Amusan ran a blistering 12.12 to shave 0.08 seconds off the previous record of 12.20 , run by America ’ s Kendra Harrison in 2016 . Showing it was no fluke , Amusan then won the final and claimed the World Title in an even faster 12.06 , but the wind-reading of a + 2.5m / s tailwind nullified that as another World Record . Not that it took anything away from her fantastic title-winning run .
The remarkable nature of Amusan ’ s story then came to the attention of the whole world … It turns out she had to train on the sly when younger because her father disapproved of her participation in athletics . “ My mum would tell my dad I was going to church while I sneaked to practice , or tell him
I was going to a school debate while I went to an out-of-state competition . That ’ s where it all started . My dad got really mad one time when he found out I was running . He burnt all my training gear and told my mum that ’ s the last time he wanted to see me in a stadium ,” recalls Amusan . Now she is a World Champion , World Record-holder , and national heroine !
So Many More Stories
While these are some of the standout stories from the 2022 World Championships , there are countless more that could also be told here . For example , new kid on the block Abby Steiner won two gold medals for the USA in the women ’ s 4x100m and 4x400m relays , and also finished fifth in the 200m final , and that brought her racing tally for 2022 up to a staggering 56 races . Steiner turned pro late in 2022 , after competing on the strictly amateur NCAA college circuit .
Then there is Brazil ’ s Alison Dos Santos , who finally became a World Champion in the men ’ s 400m hurdles after World Record-holder Karsten Warholm of Norway was a shadow of his 2021 self , due to battling with injury this year . At the age of 10 months , Dos Santos suffered third-degree burns after a hot pan of oil fell on his head . And Kenya ’ s Emmanuel Korir , who added the World 800m Title to his Olympic Gold from 2021 , in spite of not having any professional sponsorship contracts . All in all , this has to go down in history as the best ever edition of the World Athletics Championships .
Videos shared here are posted courtesy of World Athletics ( WA ), the global federation for the sport . You can check out more great athletics videos on WA ’ s YouTube Channel at www . youtube . com / c / WorldAthletics .
Disaster for SA Athletics ?
South Africa enjoyed great success in track and field at the 2016 Rio Olympics , winning two gold and two silver medals , and followed that with a haul of three gold , one silver and two bronze medals at the 2017 World Championships , and then the 2018 Commonwealth Games produced a haul of five gold , four silver and five bronze medals in athletics . However , in 2019 , Team South Africa returned from the World Championships with no medals . The same happened in the athletics at the Olympics in 2021 , and now in 2022 , it was once again no medals .
South Africa sent a team of 40 athletes to Eugene , and in the build-up to the meet , some administrators crowed about the glory that would come from this team , but was it a realistic expectation ? The South African athletes did manage two fifth-place finishes , as well as a sixth and an eighth , plus we saw an SA Record and two personal bests , but no medals . And as one local journalist put it , “ Brace yourself for excuses after Team SA ’ s poor performances ,” but is that fair ?
Men ’ s 100m : Another Fifth for Simbine
Akani Simbine made yet another global final , but once again came up narrowly short , and no-one will be more frustrated than him . He was fifth in the Olympic final in 2016 , fifth at the World Championships in 2017 , fourth in the 2019 World Champs , fourth at the 2021 Olympics , and now fifth again . Of course , just making the final eight of a global 100m final is a phenomenal achievement on
Interview with Akani Simbini after he finished fifth in the men ’ s 100m final
its own , as there are more than 200 countries competing , but it ’ s medals that count . However , was a medal for Simbine a realistic expectation in 2022 ? He ran his season best of 9.97 in the semi-final , but other than that he had not broken 10 seconds this year . Simply put , he was not in the shape of previous years ... and you need to be in top form to beat the Americans on home soil .
Image : Pexels
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