Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan settled for silver in the women’s 100m hurdles at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, on Friday. Amusan clocked 12.34 seconds to finish behind United States Olympic champion Masai Russell, who won the title in 12.22 seconds. Netherlands’ Nadine Visser completed the podium in 12.39 seconds.
The result meant Amusan, the former world record holder in the event, could not reclaim the top spot from Russell, who broke the Nigerian’s world record with a 12.09-second run at the Zurich Diamond League in August. Russell entered Friday’s final as the favourite after her record-breaking performance in Zurich and maintained her form to claim another victory.
The American also extended her unbeaten run in 2026, adding the Ultimate Championship title to the Diamond League Final crown she won in Brussels last week. Speaking after the race, Amusan said she approached the championship determined to give her best after a difficult period during the season. “First, God is good,” Amusan said. “What started off as an amazing season, you know, in between I had some nipping here and there.
You know, I’m not a robot. You know, the body did shut down at a point.” The 29-year-old hurdler said she gradually regained her momentum by taking each race as it came before arriving in Budapest with a determined mindset. “Coming into this championship, my mindset going to the line was, ‘We die here.’ I just kept telling myself I have to give it my all,” she said.
Amusan said she was determined to give everything she had in the final, regardless of the outcome. “All I knew was, look, I did it. That’s all I knew. And the second I saw the second-place finish, I was like, look, I can’t complain. God is good,” she said. The