World record holder Tobi Amusan claimed her first Diamond League victory of the season on Sunday and also broke her own meeting record in the women’s 100m hurdles after storming to victory in a time of 12.28s at the Rabat Diamond League.
Amusan’s winning time equalled her season’s best of 12.28s, which she set at the Xiamen Diamond League last week, and marked another encouraging performance as she continues to build momentum this season.
Having finished second in Xiamen, the Nigerian went one better in Rabat, crossing the line ahead of Devynne Charlton, who was second in 12.40s, and Nadine Visser, who finished third in 12.47s.
Her opening Diamond League race of the season two weeks ago saw her place third.
The previous meeting record of 12.45s in Rabat was also set by Amusan last year.
The 29-year-old entered the Diamond League season fresh from winning a fourth consecutive African title and has continued to improve with every outing ahead of the season finale and the Commonwealth Games.
Amusan is also a three-time Diamond League champion and will hope to reclaim the title this season.
However, she faces stiff competition from several in-form athletes, including American hurdler Masai Russell, who came close to threatening the Nigerian’s world record after clocking 12.14s last week.
Amusan set the world record at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, running 12.12s in the semi-finals to erase the previous mark of 12.20s set by Kendra Harrison in 2016. She later ran 12.06s in the final, but the performance was not ratified due to excessive wind assistance.
A year after setting the world record, Amusan was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit over missed whereabouts filings ahead of the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. However, she was cleared to compete just days before the championships.
With her renewed form, the Nigerian will hope to return to the summit of the women’s 100m hurdles after slipping to third in the latest world rankings. Diamond League: Amusan smashes meet record in Rabat