Paris (AFP) – World record holder and former world champion Tobi Amusan crashed out of the women’s 100m hurdles at the Olympics on Friday as defending champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn sailed into the final. Amusan shocked the world in 2022 when she set a world record of 12.12sec on her way to victory at the World Championships in Eugene.
But the 27-year-old was way off that sort of pace on Friday and could only finish third in her heat behind Grace Stark of the USA and the Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton with a time of 12.55sec. That time was not good enough to secure passage into the final as one of the fastest losers. Amusan, who successfully appealed against a doping ban earlier this year after she was accused of missing three doping tests, did not speak after her elimination.
Meanwhile, qualifying was dominated by US sprinters who clocked three of the four fastest times in the heats. Alaysha Johnson was quickest in the heats with a time of 12.34sec, just ahead of Puerto Rico’s Camacho-Quinn at 12.35sec. Stark was third fastest in 12.39sec with Masai Russell fourth quickest in 12.42sec.
Camacho-Quinn, silver medallist at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, is dreaming of becoming the first woman to win consecutive Olympic titles in the 100m hurdles. The 27-year-old admitted her maiden win in an empty stadium at the pandemic-hit Tokyo Games in 2021 had been underwhelming.
“The first one, I was like, ‘Is this what it’s supposed to feel like?’ It didn’t feel like anything super special,” she said. “It didn’t hit me. I think this one here — getting this medal will be history, I’ll be the first woman ever to do that. It’s a great field out there so we’ll push each other to do something special.”
© 2024 AFP
