The hurdles delivered drama from start to finish in the 2022 Wanda Diamond League, with reigning champion Karsten Warholm picking up a fateful early injury in Rabat and Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan delivering some of the best performances of the year in Paris and Zurich. In the second part of our “Best of 2022” series, we take a look back at the most memorable races in the 100m/110m hurdles and 400m hurdles.
Amusan writes African history – Women’s 100m hurdles, Paris
Tobi Amusan may not have picked up the most wins on the Wanda Diamond League circuit in the women’s 100m hurdles this year – that was Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, with an astonishing six wins – but the Nigerian delivered in style and at just the right moments when she did deliver. In Zurich at the end of the season, she posted a track-scorching 12.29 to successfully defend her Diamond Trophy and once again frustrate Camacho-Quinn in the battle for a major title. But it was her first win of the season, in Paris, which really caught the imagination. Amusan’s 12.41 was, at the time, an African record and a timely reminder that as reigning Diamond League champion, she was a force to be reckoned with going into the World Championships. Once in Oregon, she made history again, clocking 12.12 to break Kendra Harrison’s world record of 12.20, set at the London Diamond League in 2016.