Nigeria’s defending champion Tobi Amusan lost her World Women’s 100m Hurdles crown to Jamaica’s Danielle Williams on Thursday in a shock win at the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Williams, the 30-year-old, who previously won in Beijing in 2015, timed 12.43 seconds to edge out Olympic Champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico (12.44sec) with Kendra Harrison of the United States taking bronze (12.46), channelstv.com reports.
Amusan and 2019 winner Nia Ali were never in the hunt, finishing sixth and last respectively.
The reigning World champion and Commonwealth Games two-time champion Tobi Amusan finished in 6th position, crossing the line in 12.62.
According to Sports Brief, a statement from the World Athletics official website claimed that even television cameras did not seem to think Williams had crossed the line first, focusing instead on Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.
But when Williams’s 12.43 seconds was confirmed, 0.01 ahead of Camacho-Quinn, the many Jamaican fans in the stadium erupted along with the 2015 – and now 2023 – World Champion Danielle Williams, who claimed her country’s first gold at Budapest 2023.
Eight years after her first World Athletics Championship 100m Hurdles Gold, Williams returns to the top of the podium with a sensational performance in Budapest.
It was quite an upset as she also produced her Season’s Best during the star-studded final on Thursday night, August 24.
Coming into the event, Tobi Amusan who holds the world record of 12.12s from last year’s edition, had been tipped to make a podium finish.
Recall that Amusan was cleared of doping violations with the provisional suspension on her lifted ahead of the championship.
Last month, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) provisionally suspended the Nigerian track and field athlete for three missed whereabouts failures.
The suspension was announced after it was discovered that Amusan had missed three drug tests within a 12-month period. This charge carried a two-year suspension term, even if an athlete has never failed a drug test.
Ultimately, the Disciplinary Tribunal announced the verdict which stated, “Tobi Amusan has not committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) of three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period”.
In the final on Thursday, Williams, running in the outsider’s lane two, rose at the final hurdle alongside Camacho-Quinn and Harrison.
However, Williams found just that bit more to cross ahead of her two more fancied rivals.
For Camacho-Quinn it was an improvement of one place from last year.
“I’m not upset at all,” said the 27-year-old. “I can be grateful with that silver. After I won a bronze at the last world championships now I have a silver.
“If I add my Olympic gold medal I have the whole collection to be proud of.”
Camacho-Quinn, only Puerto Rico’s second ever Olympic champion, said to come second in one of the strongest fields of all time was a privilege.
“This final was packed with talents and I was defeated by just a tenth of a second so I don’t have any bitter feelings,” she said.
For Harrison it was once again a final disappointment.
The 30-year-old former world record holder had set a world leading time in her heat of 12.24sec but failed to carry that form into the final.
Harrison added a bronze to her two silvers (Olympic and world).
Also, Jamaica’s Antonio Watson upset a loaded field to win gold in the men’s 400m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Thursday.
Watson, 21, produced a perfectly-timed effort down the home straight to win in 44.22 seconds.
Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith claimed silver in 44.31sec, with American Quincy Hall taking bronze (44.37).
