The President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria Tonobok Okowa has backed world’s 100m hurdles champion and record holder Tobi Amusan to win the Women’s World Athlete of The Year 2022 Award.
Amusan made the shortlist of five finalists alongside Shelley-Anne Fraser-Pryce, Sydney McLaughlin, Yulimar Rojas and Kimberly Garcia for the Women’s World Athlete of The Year Award, according to a statement released by the World Athletics on Monday.
The five athletes put up sensational performances in 2022 at the World Athletics Championships, Oregon; World Athletics Indoor Championships, Belgrade; one-day meeting circuits and other events around the world.
Amusan has had a fantastic 2022, breaking the 100m hurdles world record on her way to winning gold at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon in 12.12secs.
Amusan also set a new record when she successfully defended her Diamond League title, finishing in 12.29secs in the women’s 100m hurdles at this year’s Diamond League in Zurich.
The 25-year-old also won a gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The Commonwealth and African 100m hurdles champion is the first Nigerian female athlete to be nominated for the glamorous award and will have to battle it with other four female athletes.
Okowa believes that Amusan stands a chance of winning the prestigious award and called on Nigerians to back her.
“If she has come this far, it is possible for her to win it, the other four nominees are not better than her,” Okowa told The PUNCH.
“This is an athlete that broke two records in one day. And since then, Amusan has been running and winning. She also proved herself at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with a Games record.
A three-way voting process to determine the finalists was concluded October 31, with the winner set to be announced on World Athletics’ social media platforms December 5.
According to World Athletics, a record 1.3 million votes were registered by emails and online voting via the World Athletics social media platforms.
The World Athletics Council’s vote counted for 50 per cent of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s and public votes each counted for 25 per cent of the final result.
“We need to encourage her and I pray that she eventually wins the award. It’s a good thing and it will serve as a mentor to many other younger athletes and make them believe in themselves that they too can do it. There could be many other Amusans.”
