Izuchukwu OkosiTobi Amusan – the golden girl of Nigerian Athletics has been deservedly getting all the attention and accolades after her winning feat at the World Athletics Championship in Oregon, USA.
Amusan ran a blistering 12.12 seconds in the semifinals of the Championship which was an African record and in few hours, won the gold in a time of 12.06 seconds albeit it was considered to be wind-aided which was considered unofficial.
Amusan’s journey to greatness was not smooth sailing. She had to vigorously convince her family – especially her father – that Athletics was the career for her.
Prime Business Africa gathered from a reliable source that Tobi would sometimes lie to her father that she was going for a church programme only to make a detour to the fields to train.
Even when she became a professional athlete, her dad was not wholeheartedly in support of her career choice (before the medals and cash started flowing of course).
“He will tell her, just take care,” our source who is into broadcasting and Media Consultancy revealed.
Born 23 April 1997 in Ijebu Ode, Oluwatobilola Ayomide Amusan had her early education at Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Ijebu Ode.
When it was time to get into tertiary institution, Amusan had her education at the University of Texas at El Paso where she combined academic work with Athletics.
Amusan is a child of destiny. She knew that glory and stardom were beckoning on her a few years ago when she said on her social media pages that she was not known then but will soon be celebrated.
In 2019, those prophetic words began to manifest. She won the African Athletics Championship record twice in Rabat, Morocco.
Same year (2019) in Doha, Amusan finished in 4th place at the World Athletics Championship and also came 4th at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo which was held a year later due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The World Athletics Championships feats in Oregon were the crystalisation of all the hard work she had put in over the years amid the crisis that rocked the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN).
Amusan won a total of $170,000 ($70, 000 for the semifinals) and ($100,000 for the final – about N65m) achievements in Oregon.
When Amusan crossed the finish line, there was a supposed Nigerian fan in the crowd who gifted her a Nigerian flag. It was a moment of pure ecstacy as she danced to Kizz Daniel’s popular Buga song with a white man.
Her tears on the ceremony podium when the Nigerian national anthem was played is primed to become one one of the iconic images of the Championship.
She had always cried for the love of her country. She wept in Doha and at the Olympics. The World Athletics achievement was even more profound as it came with a prize – a reward for the ‘burnt candles’
The highest world ranking she has achieved courtesy of the Athletics Federation was a 3rd place finish.
Amusan is currently coached by Lacena Golding- Clarke whom she refers to as her ‘second mother’.
Her present athletics club is Buka Tigers Athletics Club.
It is worth noting that Amusan’s current Net Worth is $2 Million which could soar higher in the foreseeable future if she continues at this pace.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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