Amusan wins New Taipei 100m hurdles with meet record 12.72s

NIGERIAN hurdler and world record holder, Tobi Amusan, on Saturday won the women’s 100m hurdles at the New Taipei Athletics Open in Taiwan, clocking a meet record of 12.72 seconds (-0.3).

Amusan dominated and finished well ahead of host athlete Bo Ya Zhang, who placed second in 13.17s.

A meet record refers to the fastest time ever recorded at a particular athletics competition. Amusan’s 12.72s performance therefore became the fastest women’s 100m hurdles time ever recorded at the New Taipei Athletics Open.

Although the performance secured another title for the Nigerian star, it was slower than her season’s best of 12.28s, which she set earlier this year. Her personal best and the world record remain 12.12s, achieved at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, United States.

The New Taipei Athletics Open is an annual World Athletics-sanctioned track and field meet held in New Taipei City, Taiwan. It features both local and international athletes competing for ranking points and early-season form ahead of major championships.

The 2026 edition of the meet took place on Saturday, June 6, at Banqiao Stadium.

The victory comes less than a week after Amusan claimed her first Diamond League meeting win of the season at the Rabat Diamond League in Morocco.

The Diamond League is the premier annual series of track and field competitions organised by World Athletics. Athletes compete across several meetings held in different cities around the world, earning points towards qualification for the season-ending Diamond League Final, where overall champions are crowned.

In Rabat, Amusan clocked 12.28s to win the women’s 100m hurdles and break her own meeting record, finishing ahead of Devynne Charlton and Nadine Visser.

The 29-year-old had earlier finished third in her opening Diamond League race of the season before placing second in Xiamen, China, where she also ran 12.28s.

A three-time Diamond League champion, Amusan is among the favourites for this season’s title, although she faces stiff competition from several in-form rivals, including American hurdler Masai Russell.

Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M