Tobi Amusan second, Brume Ese picks Olympics ticket, and other Nigerians excel at Atlanta City Games

Nigerian track stars Tobi Amusan, Ese Brume, Favour Ofili and Udodi Onwuzurike all shone at the Adidas Atlanta City games.

Tobi Amusan came second in the finals of the 100m hurdles at the Atlanta City Games, and Esther Ofili set a new African record in the same meet.

Also, Ese Brume’s season’s best finish helped her clinch Olympic qualification in a weekend of big performances from Nigerians. 

Preview of Adidas Atlanta City Games featuring top Nigerian stars Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume.

It is imperative to correct that Tobi Amusan’s victory at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational doesn’t make her the fastest woman in the world as being proclaimed by many Nigerian media outlets.

Tobi shines in Atlanta 

The 27-year-old went up against her formidable rival Kendra Harrison, making her season’s debut, along with the Jamaican trio of Ackers Nugent, Yanique Thompson, and Demisha Roswell. Also starting behind the paint were British champion Cindy Sember and America’s Anna Hall. 

Amusan clocked an impressive 12.73s (with a wind gauge reading of -2.3 m/s), but she was not the fastest on the day, finishing behind the former Champion Harrison (12.67s). Cindy Sember came third at 12.86.

Favour Ofili sets African record 

Favour stole the show at the Adidas event in Atlanta, as she broke the African record in the women’s 150m straight. 

In full stride, the 21-year-old finished the race at a record 16.30s (-0.0 m/s wind gauge), the quickest an African woman has completed the race, despite stumbling ever so slightly at the start. 

Her training partner Candace Hill officially won the race, finishing 16.30s as did Favour; however, hill slightly edged it by 0.006 seconds. She finished at a more exact 16.293s, and Ofili came in second at 16.299s.

Other top Nigerian performances 

Ese Brume was another Nigerian who had a brilliant outing at the Adidas Atlanta City games. Brume finished third with a season-best 6.87m, which helped confirm her place at the Paris Olympics. 

USA’s Tara Davis-Woodhall won with a World Lead jump of 7.17m, while her compatriot Quanesha Burks came second with a 6.89m jump. 

In the men’s 100m final, Udodi Onwuzurike’s season’s best finish of 10.12s propelled him to a fourth-place finish behind South Africa’s Akani Simbine’s World Lead finish of 9.90s and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala’s 10.00s.

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Preview of Adidas Atlanta City Games featuring top Nigerian stars Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume.

Favour Ofili threatened Blessing Okagbare’s Nigerian Record, as well as winning the 200m and 4x100m events at the LSU Invitational.

Ese Brume will aim for two things when she competes at the Suzhou Diamond League against a respectable field of jumpers.