Two of Nigeria’s brightest prospects for medals at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland – Tobi Amusan and Kanyinsola Ajayi – achieved contrasting results on ‘the favourite tracks of Eugene,’ where they both previously gained the biggest records so far in their respective careers.
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Sports247 reports that Amusan could only finish in second place on the same tracks where she set her women’s 100m hurdles world record in 2022, while Ajayi equalled his new Nigerian men’s 100m best ever mark across the terrain where he broke it only few weeks ago.
Amusan and Ajayi got their diverse results at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, USA on Saturday, as they competed in the ninth Wanda Diamond League meeting, a week after both stars skipped Nigeria’s Commoonwealth Games selection competition at Yaba College of Technology, in order to concentrate on the international circuit.
However, while Ajayi justified his decision by notching another remarkable first place finish that almost gave him another Nigerian record, Amusan only stepped up a notch in her continued steady progression of results heading into the Commonwealth Games, where she is a two-time gold medalist in the 100m.
A report by track and field global governing body, World Athletics’ media revealed in part: “USA’s Olympic champion Russell also impressed, as she matched the meeting record to win the 100m hurdles, clocking 12.24 (0.8m/s) – the fifth-fastest time of her career.
“She beat Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan by a tenth of a second. Amusan was beaten back at the track on which she set her world record of 12.12 in 2022, a mark that Russell was just 0.02 shy of matching in Xiamen in May.
“Kayinsola Ajayi won the non-Diamond League 100m, three weeks on from his NCAA title victory on the same track. This time, the 21-year-old clocked 9.84 (0.1m/s) to equal his own Nigerian record, getting a great start and maintaining his advantage to beat Jamaica’s world champion, Oblique Seville, who clocked 9.89.”
