Nigerian athlete, Tobiloba Amusan has been named Africa’s Best Female Athlete of 2022 by the Confederation of African Athletics, CAA.
This honor comes after a successful year for Amusan, who set a record at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and a new world record of 12.12 seconds in the Hurdles event at the World Championships in Oregon.
Amusan also won the Diamond League trophy for the second consecutive season, solidifying her status as one of the top athletes in the world and Africa’s undisputed number one. Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon and Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey, both world champions in the 1500m and 1000m events, were ranked second and third, respectively, behind Amusan.
Despite not winning the global accolade of World Female Athlete of the Year, which was awarded to America’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Amusan has had a remarkable year.
She started 2022 with a successful defense of her African Championships title in Mauritius, then improved on her African record by running 12.41 seconds at the Diamond League meeting in Paris.
At the All Nigerian Championships in Benin City, Amusan won another national title by running an impressive 12.58 seconds, breaking the 12.63 seconds record set in 1997 by Angela Atede.
The highlight of Amusan’s year was in Eugene, Oregon, where she set a world record of 12.12 seconds in the semifinals of the 100m hurdles and followed it up with a wind-assisted 12.06 seconds in the final to win gold.
