Tobi Amusan, the world record hurdler, was not included in Nigeria’s final entry, so she will not be competing in this weekend’s World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
According to information obtained by our correspondent, Amusan declined the chance to compete at the championship in order to focus more on getting ready for the upcoming African Games in Ghana, which takes place from March 8 to March 23.
“But she will be back for the African Games; that I can assure you, barring any injuries, which we don’t pray for.”
After setting two African indoor records in the 60-meter hurdles within a few days this season, Amusan had high hopes of becoming the third Nigerian to win at the World Athletics flagship events—both indoor and outdoor. The other two are Ese Brume and Glory Alozie.
After Sunday Bada and Olusoji Fasuba, who won the 400- and 60-meter championships in 1997 and 2008, respectively, she also raised hopes for the development of a female indoor champion from Nigeria.
Amusan breaks the 60-meter African record.Since Amusan is out of the picture, Brume will be the only Nigerian long jumper looking to win a medal at both the indoor and outdoor world championships. She will be going for the gold.
In Doha, Qatar in 2019 and Eugene, USA in 2022, the long jumper won bronze and silver, respectively, at the World Championships. Moreover, in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2022, she took home silver from the World Indoor Championships.
Along with Edosie Ibadin, Dubem Nwachukwu, and Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, who have all confirmed their participation in Glasgow, the 28-year-old is the only woman on the list of Nigeria’s final entry.
In the 400- and 800-meter events, respectively, Enekwechi will compete, and Ibadin will compete in the shot put.
Sikiru Adeyemi, Chidi Okezie, Nwachukwu, and Ibadin were also recruited by Nigeria for their 4×400-meter relay squad.
The Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the Slovak Republic, Poland, Belgium, the USA, and Kenya will compete against them.