Amusan is a three-time Diamond League champion, having previously won the title in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Nigerian hurdler Tobi Amusan failed to make the podium in the women’s 100m hurdles event at the Diamond League in Brussels, Belgium, on Saturday after finishing fourth.
The race had been billed as one of the highlights of the Diamond League finale, featuring American athlete Masai Russell, who was competing for the first time since breaking the world record set by Amusan four years ago in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Russell had run 12.09 seconds in Zurich to lower the Nigerian’s previous mark of 12.12 seconds by three-hundredths of a second, becoming the first woman to break the 12.10-second barrier in the event.
ALSO READ: ‘He looks confident on the ball’ – Iraola rates Barcola after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Ipswich
Amusan, for her part, warmed up for the final with victory at the Grand Prix Brescia in Italy on 31 August, clocking 12.56 seconds despite a stiff headwind to finish ahead of American hurdler Alaysha Johnson and Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent.
However, it was Russell who won the race after clocking a meet record of 12.20 seconds, ahead of her training partner Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas, who lowered her national record to 12.33 seconds to finish second.
In third position was Jamaica’s Megan Simmonds, who clocked a season’s best of 12.43 seconds ahead of the Ogun State-born athlete, who finished fourth in 12.54 seconds.
Amusan is a three-time Diamond League champion, having previously won the title in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
