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.
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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
