Tobi Amusan: The day I cried

By Deinma Afiesimama

I cried ! Yes I did, freely.. I have watched that race clip at least two dozen times today and I’m not yet done. It was a potpourri of tears. Tears of Joy, mixed with anger. Tears of pride laced with pain. Ask me why I cried and I’ll gladly, maybe angrily tell you.

I cried because I have never seen such hurdling with precise perfection. How on earth do you run an obstacle race like the hurdles in such blistering times of 12.12 and 12.06 (wind aided) but who cares, methinks the wind got carried away watching such hurdling artistry.

I cried because I tried to imagine how a record can be broken twice in one night! I remembered the training and tears, the faith and persecution it took me to break the National Sports Festival Record in 2002 in Benin City, that was 20 years ago. It was simply divine and this was no exception but who does that — running the hurdles on the brink of 11 seconds? Unimaginable!

I cried as I remembered all the days of hard training, sleepless nights and preparation ..this was our ultimate goal, we inscribed it on the crevices of our heart, we wrote it on paper and pasted on our wall, we talked about it as athletes and we knew the possibility of it coming true but each time we tried, we were left frustrated by a country that has little or no value for her citizens let alone her athletes, her sporting heroes.

I cried as I watched Tobi cry because I could very well imagine what was going on in her mind as the national anthem of the nation was being played and our flag hoisted in pride before the world.

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I cried because I could feel her exhilarating joy and pain all muddled up in one.
I cried because that could have been me several years ago. I cried when I remembered how I had to call it quits after my colleagues and i were suspended for simply asking for our rights to be given to us as so called ambassadors of the nation. I cried when I remembered how I was in top shape while in training in Havana, only to be plagued by injury yet I risked my life to compete for a nation that cared less.

I cried for a nation that harangues its patriots and celebrates its criminals especially those in the corridors of power. I cried when I cast my mind back to the many occasions when we were denied representing our country by the powers that be under some flimsy hogwash excuse. I remember the day I had looked forward to travelling outside our shores after qualification but was left stranded at the airport under the guise of my passport gone missing. I saw my colleagues board the flight and wondered what the hell was going on and what I had done wrong. I and two other athletes had to spend three nights in Lagos uncatered for, awaiting the second batch, after much Ado about nothing , I eventually was reluctantly allowed to make the trip , of course by the time we arrived Izmir, Turkey, my event had already taken place.

I cried for the numerous times upon retirement when I made attempts to organise competitions where many more Tobi”s can be discovered and nurtured into greatness, the most recent being the first Inter Schools Athletics Championships for private schools which thankfully we organized successfully through the help of just family and a few friends.

I cried when I remembered the rejection from the government and corporate organizations in the hosting of this event. I cried for my beloved country, a land with so much potential but little output. I cried as I heard Tobi sing, ” the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain”.

I cried because the same forces that frustrated Tobi and her colleagues in their quest for glory for motherland will be waiting in the wings to claim the credit for her feat.
But if Tobi can do it, then there is hope in the horizon, and despite the dark forest of human expectation that surrounds Nigerian athletes, this feat brings us light and hope in the future that we can achieve our dreams, and no, we wont shed a tear anymore, because a new Nigeria is born.

To all the Tobi’s out there, cheer up, your time is now. Congratulations to Tobi, her family, athletes and friends, her coach , manager and all who made this a dream come true.

Afiesimama is a former Nigerian athlete and National Sports Festival record holder for 15 years in the 110m hurdles. He writes from Port Harcourt