Every athlete embarks upon a unique journey, but for World Championships fourth-place finisher Tobi Amusan, her unorthodox arrival upon the hurdles is a story worth explaining.
Disappointed to have been replaced as a member of the Nigerian 4x100m relay squad at the trials for the 2014 African Youth Games, she asked what other event could she enter outside of the sprints.
When organisers suggested the 100m hurdles and with the top two automatically selected for a place in the Nigerian team for those Games, Amusan figured she had nothing to lose.
&ldquo;If it is run and jump, I thought I&rsquo;ll do it,&rdquo; she recalls. &ldquo;I had played around with hurdles in practise but I had never competed before.&rdquo;
Discovering she had only one other opponent that day, Amusan, much to her surprise, triumphed in the 100m hurdles trials race before going on to earn silver at the African Youth Games in Botswana in only her second hurdles race.
<h3>Rapid rise to podium finishes&nbsp;</h3>
Six years on from her quirky introduction to hurdling, Amusan has come a long way, winning gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, African Games, African Championship and NCAA Championships. Last year she finished just 0.02 shy of a medal at the World Athletics Championships in Doha.
Still just 23, Amusan will be a potent medal threat at next year&rsquo;s rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games. 
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Nigerian sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan</div>
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Raised in a disciplined household in the town of Ijebu Ode in Ogun State in Nigeria, her parents, who are both teachers, set the tone.
&ldquo;My life centred around going to school, sleeping, eating and reading books,&rdquo; recalls Amusan. &ldquo;The same cycle that I have taken into my later life.&rdquo;
A member of the high school soccer team, her running journey began at the age of 15 when she entered and won the 100m sprint in an inter house competition.&nbsp;
Inspired to take up the sport after that day defeating a runner who trained at the local athletics stadium, Amusan started formal training &ndash; although initially it was a covert operation.
&ldquo;My mum was in full support of my athletics career but dad wanted me to focus on school,&rdquo; says Amusan. &ldquo;He limited my time at the stadium, but I used to sneak to the track thanks to mum telling dad I&rsquo;d gone to church!&rdquo;
Her mother&rsquo;s white lies paid dividends when in 2013 Amusan qualified to compete for Nigeria at the African Youth Championships, earning 200m silver. Later that year she competed at the World Athletics U18 Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine, qualifying for the 200m semi-finals only to be disqualified for a lane infringement.
While disappointed to be disqualified, on her return home she and the returning squad were hosted by the President of Nigeria &ndash; a moment which led Amusan to be totally smitten by the thought of a future athletics career.
&ldquo;Back then I thought by competing in track I&rsquo;d get to meet the President all the time,&rdquo; she adds with her trademark laugh. &ldquo;I thought if this is true I&rsquo;m going to take track seriously.&rdquo;
<h3>2015 breakthrough</h3>
Her unlikely conversion to the hurdles came about in 2014, and after undergoing a period of specialist hurdles coaching, the following year she saw her PB tumble across a two-month period from 13.69 to an African U20 record of 13.11, capped by gold at the African Games in Brazzaville.
&ldquo;It was one of the biggest milestones of my career; winning that championship set me up for who I am today,&rdquo; she adds.
She accepted a US scholarship to attend the University of Texas at El Paso and from her arrival in January 2016 she hooked up with new coach Lacena Golding-Clarke, a three-time Olympian for Jamaica and the 2002 Commonwealth Games 100m hurdles champion.
Given the benefit of Golding-Clark&rsquo;s vast international experience, Amusan has thrived.
&ldquo;She has been like a teacher, mentor and role model to me,&rdquo; she adds. &ldquo;Lacena was a fierce competitor and she has instilled in me those same qualities.&rdquo;
Within three months of working together, Amusan set a blistering (but ultimately unratified) world U20 100m hurdles record of 12.83. Despite being strongly tipped to strike gold later that summer at the World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, she wound up a disappointing fifth in a high-quality final.&nbsp;
&ldquo;That was a day in which my life flashed right in front of me,&rdquo; she recalls. 
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Tobi Amusan taking the 2018 Commonwealth title</div>
&nbsp;
She completed an eventful year by reaching the Olympic semi-finals but Amusan was determined to deliver more.
&ldquo;I sat down with my coach at the end the season and I said to her, &lsquo;I want to go undefeated in 2017&rsquo;,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care what you tell me to do, I&rsquo;m just going to get it done.&rdquo;
Diligently completing every session and competing across multiple events &ndash; 100m, 200m and 100m hurdles &ndash; her speed endurance made rapid gains and she delivered on her promise to remain unbeaten in the 100m hurdles in the outdoor collegiate campaign, securing the NCAA title in a PB of 12.57.
<h3>Beaten by the London chill, but rebounds with Commonwealth title&nbsp;</h3>
Touted as a potential dark horse for a medal at the World Championship in London, unfortunately the chilly conditions badly compromised her efforts as she exited the semi-finals in a relatively pedestrian 13.04.
&ldquo;Everything crashes down when I compete in cold conditions,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;London took me from 100% to zero. I couldn&rsquo;t even warm up for my semi-final because I was cramping so badly.&rdquo;
Despite her World Championship disappointment, Amusan took the decision at the end of the season to turn pro and quickly gained rewards by securing 100m hurdles gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
Following the late withdrawal of 2017 world champion and home favourite Sally Pearson through injury, the path was cleared for Amusan to make her mark. She scorched to victory in 12.68, defeating 2015 world champion Danielle Williams of Jamaica.
&ldquo;It was a significant win,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;I was just 20 at that time. Standing on the podium was one heck of a minute or so. It was amazing.&rdquo; 
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Tobi Amusan at the 2018 African Championships</div>
&nbsp;
Later that year she maintained her Midas touch by securing the African title in front of her home fans in Asaba and tasted the European circuit for the first time.
As a rookie pro, she described the experience as a &ldquo;learning phase&rdquo; but emerged out of the season with a clear goal in mind.
&ldquo;I knew I wanted to consistently finish in the top three in races and reach the top like the other girls, too,&rdquo; she adds.
<h3>Building and showing confidence</h3>
Leading into the 2019 campaign, she continued to refine her technique but also focused on improving her mental resilience.
&ldquo;My coach taught me that when I walk into a room full of my rivals to look like I own the damn world record,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;She always reminds me that I&rsquo;ve practised hard to trust myself and translate that aggressiveness on to the track.&rdquo;
Adopting that attitude last year, she claimed top-three finishes at the Diamond League meetings in Doha, Stockholm and Birmingham and captured the African Games title in Rabat.
Then, after running a blistering personal best of 12.48 to win her heat at the World Championships in Doha, she looked like a potential medallist in the making.
But elation was quickly replaced by deep concern. Post-race she started to feel quad pain. As the condition worsened, she underwent frantic physio treatment to be ready for the semi-final, where to Amusan&rsquo;s surprise she managed to match her time from the heat to claim victory.
Still managing a lot of pain, Amusan suffered a horror start in the final. Trailing the field after hurdle one, she set off in hot pursuit of the leaders but with too much ground to make up she finished fourth in 12.49 &ndash; 0.02 short of bronze.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was playing catch up and at this level, it is not possible,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;After the race I broke down, it felt like my whole world had crumbled.&rdquo;
After using the 2020 indoor season to refine her start, the project proved a success as she claimed 60m hurdles victories in Karlsruhe (in a PB of 7.84), Satra and Berlin. 
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Tobi Amusan on her way to winning the 60m hurdles at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Karlsruhe</div>
&nbsp;
Approaching the World Indoor Championships as the third fastest woman this year for 60m hurdles, she was fancied to claim her first global medal, only for Covid-19 to make its unwelcome entrance and stuff up her plans.
<h3>Meeting the lockdown challenge</h3>
Amusan has undergone a challenging journey over the past six months or so. Based in El Paso, she has had no track or gym access in that time. From March through to June she was forced to carry out workouts on a concrete surface around her apartment complex.
However, this brought with it an extra strain on her body. Shin splints and quad issues resurfaced and she wisely opted to take a six-week break from training.
On the insistence of her coach, she returned to training to race in a couple of low-key 100m races in late July and early August in Texas before opting to fully shut down her season in preparation for 2021 and the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics.
Possessing a deep faith, she prefers to leave her future in God&rsquo;s hands, and while reluctant to make too many predictions, you can be assured that Amusan will continue to approach her sport with 100% commitment.
&ldquo;There is little doubt the discipline my parents showed me helped shape who I am today on the track,&rdquo; she explains.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t party, I don&rsquo;t drink and when I am on the track it is serious,&rdquo; she adds. &ldquo;I know my next pay cheque is dependent on my next performance. That is what helps put food on the table.&rdquo;
Steve Landells for World Athletics

Every athlete embarks upon a unique journey, but for World Championships fourth-place finisher Tobi Amusan, her unorthodox arrival upon the hurdles is a story worth explaining.

After quirky introduction, Amusan’s rise through the hurdles ranks continues

Yaim&eacute; Perez threw a world-leading 69.39m in the discus throw to highlight the Pro Athl&eacute; tour meeting in Sotteville les Rouen, France, on Tuesday (16).
In a spirited battle with Cuban compatriot Denia Caballero, Perez struck first, reaching 69.08m in the opening round, just 11 centimetres shy of her 69.19m lifetime best set at this meeting in 2017.
Caballero responded in the second round with a 69.08m effort of her own, but only pushed P&eacute;rez on to one of the 28-year-old's most consistent series of her career. After a 65.97m in the second round, she followed up with a 66.89m in the third and 68.44m in the fourth. After fouling in the fifth, she nailed the winning 69.39m in the final round, a lifetime best and new world lead.
Caballero, who arrived as the world leader at 69.20m, didn't improve, and had to settle for second.
The pair are the most dominant discus throwers in the world a the moment, owning the seven best throws of the season (P&eacute;rez four, Caballero three), 10 of the best 11 and 16 of the farthest 17.
<h3>Amusan threatens African record</h3>
Nigerian Tobi Amusan dominated the 100m hurdles, clocking 12.49 to shatter her previous lifetime best of 12.57. The performance elevated the 22-year-old, who raced to the 2017 NCAA title and took the African title on home soil in Asaba last year, to second on the African all-time list, 0.05 shy of Glory Alozie's Area record set 21 years ago. Amusan now sits third on the 2019 season list.
Queen Claye was second in 12.63, a season's best.
Elsewhere, 2015 world champion Yarisley Silva won the pole vault with a 4.70m clearance, a season's best. Aleksandro Melo of Brazil won the triple jump with a 17.20m (+2.0 m/s) leap.
Kenyan Alfred Kipketer won the 800m in 1:45.59 ahead of Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi, the 2012 Olympic 1500m champion and double silver medallist at the 2016 games in Rio. It was the 31-year-old Makhloufi's first race in nearly three years.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

Yaime Perez threw a world-leading 69.39m in the discus throw to highlight the Pro Athlé tour meeting in Sotteville les Rouen, France, on Tuesday (16).

Perez throws world-leading 69.39m in Sotteville les Rouen

Nigerian sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan ended 2018, her first professional season, with the Commonwealth and African titles. The 21-year-old explains how gold at the 2015 African Games set her on the path to glory.
&nbsp;
<h3>High</h3>
For my high I have to talk about getting a scholarship and coming to the US. That was when I finally believed in myself in being a hurdler. Before that, I was thinking that I could be a sprinter.
I was born in the western part of Nigeria, in Ogun State. It&rsquo;s a place where people don&rsquo;t believe in your dreams until you finally make it big. My school [University of Texas, El Paso] had been contacting me since 2014, before I went for the 2015 African Junior Championships. But there I ran above 14 seconds and they told me it wasn&rsquo;t up to the standard for recruiting for the NCAAs Division 1 level.
I had three months to prepare for the 2015 African Games in Brazzaville, Congo. That was when one of my brothers in the US told me that I needed to get my standard down before I could be recruited. Not my actual brother &ndash; more a like a track brother, who went to the States after training in the same stadium as me. His name is Abiola Onakoya; he has had a huge impact on my journey in the US.
I trained really hard, morning and night, just to make the standard and go to Brazzaville. I made the standard and went there ranked 10th. People were saying I couldn&rsquo;t make it to the finals, but I thought, &lsquo;No problem&rsquo;. In the first round I had the fastest time and a PB of 13.11 (an African U20 record). Then, in the finals, I ran 13.15 and I won. It was a huge victory for me. I realised then that I had the talent in the hurdles, so I took it really serious. 
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Tobi Amusan after winning the 100m hurdles at the African Games</div>
&nbsp;
You don&rsquo;t even want to know about the phone calls [from UTEP]! They were killing me with calls! &ldquo;Can you send this, can you send that?!&rdquo; At first there was stress with trying to process the US thing, but it was what I always wanted. I did everything I could to pass the exams and send the right things. I made it through and went in January 2016.
Going into the US, my goal was NCAAs, but my first year I didn&rsquo;t do anything crazy. I had three months to make the Olympic standard, so my goal was to train as hard as I could and make the standard. I went from 13.10 straight to 12.83.
The scholarship changed everything. It made me see track and field in a different way. In Nigeria it wasn&rsquo;t really as bright as you think it may be; you just do it because you want to do it. Coming to the US college system, I know what I&rsquo;m capable of doing, especially when you run with the fast US athletes. It made me believe that this girl from Nigeria can achieve great exploits.
<h3> Low</h3>
There are a few. I would talk about the World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz. I went in with the fastest time, but had trail leg problems and went from first to fifth in the final. That got me really heart-broken. I felt like I should quit hurdling after that one race.
I was so emotionally and mentally drained. Going into the competition I had the expectation of, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re winning this&rsquo;. And then everything switched around in 12 seconds. That&rsquo;s one of the lows.
But there&rsquo;s another, the World Championships in 2017 in London. I went in as the fourth fastest. It was after NCAAs and I was in shape, so my goal was, even if I didn&rsquo;t make it to the podium, make sure I finished in the ranking I went in with: fourth place.
Before the semi-finals it was cold, I was cramping &ndash; I couldn&rsquo;t even warm up. I felt like everything was going to fall apart in front of my face. I was crying. I couldn&rsquo;t talk to my coach before the race because there was no Wi-Fi and I had no roaming.
I went in and couldn&rsquo;t even make the finals. Bydgoszcz was tougher because I wanted to win. London, I wanted to make the finals and possibly win a medal, but my expectation wasn&rsquo;t as high as it was in Bydgoszcz. 
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Nigerian sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan at the IAAF World Championships London 2017</div>
&nbsp;
But those disappointments have made me really strong. Every time I step on the track, and in training, I look back and think, &lsquo;None of those girls who beat me then [at World U20s] will ever defeat me again&rsquo;.
And after London, I learned that the fact that I was in the mix, knowing I was capable of doing stuff at this age &ndash; I was just 20 &ndash; and being ranked in the top eight makes me confident that when I get my technique right, my speed right, and get a bit stronger, I&rsquo;ll be fine.
Even after the Diamond League final [where she finished fourth] I sat down and all I could think was, &lsquo;Everything happens for a reason&rsquo;. At the end of 2017 I wasn&rsquo;t even seeing myself running professionally. This year, I&rsquo;m here on the circuit, so next, I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going to happen. I just have to focus on me and hope it leads something really great.
Thomas Byrne for the IAAF

Nigerian sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan ended 2018, her first professional season, with the Commonwealth and African titles. The 21-year-old explains how gold at the 2015 African Games set her on the path to glory.

High and low – Tobi Amusan

At two different meetings on opposite sides of the world, Nigerian sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan and Polish shot putter Konrad Bukowiecki broke continental U20 records in their respective events.
Amusan, a student at the University of Texas at El Paso, was a convincing winner of the 100m hurdles on her home track at the UTEP Invitational on Saturday (30). Aided by El Paso&rsquo;s altitude and a following breeze of 0.4m/s, the 19-year-old produced the first sub-13-second run of her career to win in 12.83.
Although her time is faster than Aliuska Lopez&rsquo;s official world U20 record of 12.84, Amusan&rsquo;s mark won&rsquo;t be ratified as there was no post-race drugs test. Dior Hall&rsquo;s 12.74 clocking last year was not ratified as a world U20 record for the same reason.
But Amusan&rsquo;s mark is an improvement on her own African junior record and will stand as the second-fastest time ever by a junior.
Amusan, who last year won the African junior and African Games titles, went on to win the 200m in El Paso in a big PB of 23.24.
&ldquo;It was a really nice race and my plan was just to get out of the blocks,&rdquo; Amusan told local reporters. &ldquo;When I first looked at the scoreboard and it said 13.3 (seconds) I was very mad, but then when the official results popped up and said 12.83 I said YES!
&ldquo;It is really a privilege to run sub 13,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;It is great to see my goal come true that I have been training for over the past year.&rdquo;
Meanwhile, world junior champion Bukowiecki opened his 2016 outdoor campaign with a record-breaking throw in Bojanowo on Sunday (1).
Competing with the 6kg shot, the 19-year-old opened his series with 21.41m, then sent his implement out to a European junior record of 22.91m in the third round, breaking David Storl&rsquo;s mark of 22.73m from 2009.
But by the end of the competition, Bukowiecki had improved again, extending the record to 22.94m. His winning mark is the second-best junior performance in history and is just six centimetres shy of the world U20 record set by Jacko Gill in 2013.
Bukowiecki, who finished fourth at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016, later contested the discus and set a PB of 60.85m with the 1.75kg implement, taking him to fourth on this year&rsquo;s U20 world list.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

At two different meetings on opposite sides of the world, Nigerian sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan and Polish shot putter Konrad Bukowiecki broke continental U20 records in their respective events.

After quirky introduction, Amusan’s rise through the hurdles ranks continues

Perez throws world-leading 69.39m in Sotteville les Rouen

High and low – Tobi Amusan

Continental U20 records for Amusan and Bukowiecki