大象传媒

Tobi Amusan won the gold medal in the women's 100m hurdles on the final day of the World Athletics Championships in Oregon in the United States. In the semi-finals, she broke the world record. Her gold medal is Nigeria's first ever in a world athletics championship.

Two aspiring athletes, 19-year-old Mercy Umoibang, who runs the 200 and 400m and Miracle Thompson, a 100m hurdler just like Tobi Amusan, describe how they felt watching their fellow country woman win gold.

鈥淚n the semis, she ran 12:12 and I cried so much 鈥� not because I wasn鈥檛 happy for her.鈥� says Miracle Thompson. 鈥淚 was like, Tobi has done it again. Who is going to break this record? It actually motivated me to keep going. Nigeria is a country that people don鈥檛 expect something like this to come out from.鈥�

Mercy Umoibang from Akwa Ibom state says Tobi Amusan鈥檚 gold has changed what Nigerian athletes believe is possible. 鈥淪he just changed that aspect of the way I see Nigerian athletes.鈥� she says.

Mercy Umoibang and Miracle Thompson both came through a talent search programme in Nigeria called Making of Champions. Just like Tobi Amusan, both athletes left Nigeria to pursue their studies and athletics training in the US.

Miracle says her move to the US gives her the chance to follow "every athletes dream, to be able to compete, run and be better for themselves". Mercy says "In America we have lots of opportunities and back home we have no facilities, we have no opportunities at all". In Nigeria ongoing strikes impact on education and there are very few competitions to compete in. Mercy adds "here we get the privilege to compete every weekend."

Tobi Amusan's win will hopefully change the way athletics is seen in Nigeria and give athletes the chance to compete.

Photo: Miracle Thompson(L). Credit: Drew Mahin. (R) Mercy Umoibang. Credit: Official_rosemary_9ja )

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