Sports

Tobi Amusan: Nigeria’s Biggest Sports Export

Published

10 months ago

July 31, 2022

Eric

History was made during the week, when Nigerian athlete, Tobi Amusan, stormed to victory at the 100 metres hurdles final at the World Championships held in Eugene, United States, becoming the first athlete from Nigeria to win gold at such an event.

Amusan, 25, whose 12.06-second performance was initially announced as a world record, but was later ruled ineligible as the wind speed exceeded the legal limit. However, Amusan had broken the world record earlier in the day by clocking 12.12 seconds in the semi-final at Hayward Field.

Recovering from a slow start in the final, she put on a pristine performance over the barriers, beating the silver medalist, Britany Anderson of Jamaica with 0.17 seconds.

Amusan was reported to have “got off to a scorching start and was smoothly into her stride after the first hurdle, building a clear lead and then pulling away ahead of Anderson and the fast-closing Camacho-Quinn for the gold.”

According to the golden girl, who was treated to Nigeria’s trending hit song, Buga, on victory, “The goal was to come out and to win this gold.

“I believe in my abilities, but I was not expecting a world record at these championships. You know, the goal is always just to execute well and get the win. So the world record is a bonus.”

Tobi Amusan therefore become the first Nigerian ever to win gold at the World Athletics Championships after the classic performance, doing it in style and breaking two two records on the night as previously set by America’s Kendra Harrison’s at 12.20s.

Among the many firsts recorded by Amusan included becoming the first Nigerian athlete to ever set a World Record in any event. It will also be the first time the Nigerian anthem would be played over the public address system during medal presentation as the winner of an event.

In addition to the euphoria that heralded her feat, Amusan walked away with a whopping $100,000 prize money She is presently participating in the Commonwealth Games, which kicked off on Thursday, July 28 as the defending champion in her event.

Amusan’s victory is a clear lesson for all and sundry that there is no space for giving up on one’s goals and aspirations. It would be recalled that she had a disappointing outing in Tokyo in 2021 where she finished fourth in the final against expectations that she was going to pick one of the medals.

A Diamond League trophy winner, Amusan is also a Commonwealth Games champion and multiple African Champion. She is said to now has an eye on the Olympic Games medal to add to her impressive collection.

Born Oluwatobiloba Ayomide Amusan on April 23, 1997 in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, to school-teacher parents, Mr and Mrs. Amusan. Tobi, as she is fondly called, is the last of three siblings, and had her Secondary School Education at Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.

Amusan had shown signs of accomplishment as an athlete from a very tender age. She began her climb to glory when she won a silver medal at the 2013 African Youth Championships in Warri. She followed it up with a gold, which she claimed in the 100 metres hurdles at the 2015 African Junior Athletics Championships in Addis Ababa. At the age of 18 in 2015, while making her All-Africa Games debut, she won the gold medal in the 100 metres hurdles.

She was the 2018 Commonwealth Champion in the 100m hurdles. She’s also the reigning African Champion in the event, winning back to back gold medals at the 2018 and 2022 African Championships in Athletics and is also a two-time African Games champion in the event. She won the Diamond League Trophy in Zurich in 2021 in the 100m hurdles becoming the first Nigerian to do so, also breaking the then African Record held by Glory Alozie.

Today, Amusan is the biggest news in Nigeria as well as the country biggest sports export, having achieved feat no Nigerian athlete has ever achieved.

She is just 25, and it’s believed that her focus and steadfastness will propel her to breaking and setting more records for Nigeria. Her feat, without mincing, provided something all Nigerians could agree on for once, and created a happy deviation from the gory insecurity ravaging the nation presently.

We, at the Boss, identify with Tobi’s great feat, and wish her many more years of conquering the world.

Congratulations!

Sports

Nigeria End Argentina’s U20 World Cup Dream, Reach Quarter-Finals

Published

3 days ago

June 1, 2023

Eric

The Flying Eagles advance to the quarter-final of the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup for the first time in 12 years after defeating host Argentina 2-0 at the Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario in the early hours of Thursday, The PUNCH reports.

Second-half goals from Ibrahim Muhammad and Rilwanu Sarki secured a shock win for Ladan Bosso’s team.

They will face either Ecuador or South Korea in the quarter-final of the competition in Santiago del Estero on Sunday.

The Flying Eagles started brightly but as the first half wore on, La Albiceleste dominated play.

Striker Alejo Veliz had two scoring chances to break the deadlock as the break approached but missed those sitters.

First, his glancing header went narrowly wide in the 14th minute while his second attempt before the break was saved by Kingsley Aniagboso who was in goal for Nigeria.

In the 61st minute, The Flying Eagles broke the deadlock through Emmanuel Umeh when he flicked the ball over the top for Muhammad, who slotted home a low shot past goalkeeper Federico Gerth.

The goal saw Argentina pile the pressure in search of an equaliser and in the process they had 20 shots at goal as against Nigeria’s nine.

Javier Mascherano’s boys came agonisingly close when Luka Romero’s low drive from a distance hit the upright of the post for Daniel Bameyi to put the ball to safety.

In additional time, substitute Victor Eletu came off the bench for Ibrahim Muhammad to make an assist for Haliru Sarki to score Nigeria’s second on the night and secure a famous triumph for Nigeria for the first time in the competition since 2005.

Nigeria’s win on Thursday ended a run of 10 straight U-20 World Cup victories for Argentina. The young La Abliceleste had won all seven games when they hosted the tournament in 2001, and their first three at this edition.

Sports

Manchester City Deserve to Win, Says Ancelotti

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2023

Eric

Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti, has admitted that Manchester City deserved to win the match because they played better, as Madrid a painful 4-0 loss at Manchester City on Wednesday.

The win completed a 5-1 aggregate defeat for Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final.

Manchester City, who were beaten by Real Madrid at the same stage last season, avenged that heartbreaking defeat with a brilliant performance in front of their jubilant fans.

Only Real Madrid goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, prevented them from inflicting even more damage.

“They played better than us and deserved to win.

“They put a lot of pressure at the beginning, it worked out well for them because they made it very difficult for us to get the ball in play and they went two goals ahead.

“From then on, it was difficult to get back into the game. We tried in the second half… but it didn’t work out,” Ancelotti told reporters.

Ancelotti admitted it was a painful night but said it was too soon to analyse what had gone wrong.

“Evaluating today, at this moment, makes no sense.

“It is a defeat that hurts, it hurts a lot. But it can happen. We reached the semi-finals of the Champions League against a strong opponent, they played better and left us without a final.

“We have to learn and for the next season, to be better,” he said.

This is coming a year after winning a LaLiga and Champions League double, and becoming the first manager to capture titles in each of Europe’s top five leagues.

Ancelotti is now facing up to finishing the campaign with just a Spanish Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup to show for their efforts.

He did, however, set another record on Wednesday, becoming the coach with the most European Cup games (191), surpassing the mark set by former Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson.

But with their rivals Barcelona crowned LaLiga champions last weekend with four-games to spare, Ancelotti was left searching for a silver lining.

“I think it was a good season. We have to show up in the few games we have ahead of us.

“I think that reaching a Champions League semi-final is a success because only four teams make it to the last four,” Ancelotti said.

NAN