World record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles, Tobi Amusan, has pulled out of this year’s Diamond League final in Zurich, The PUNCH reports.
The final leg of the Diamond League began on Wednesday and concludes on Thursday, featuring some of the world’s top athletes competing for a $50,000 prize in key disciplines.
Amusan qualified for the event as the second-best athlete of the season in her discipline, earning 27 points. She has now withdrawn and will be replaced by Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton.
The final field in the women’s 100m hurdles will feature Charlton, reigning world champion Danielle Williams and her Jamaican teammate Ackera Nugent, Dutch runner Nadine Visser, Swiss duo Ditaji Kambundji and Selina von Jackowski, and the American trio Tonea Marshall, Grace Stark, and Kendra Harrison.
Amusan holds the meet record at 12.29s, set in September 2022 when she claimed her second Diamond League title. The 28-year-old also won three consecutive titles from 2021 to 2023.
Her withdrawal is seen as a possible strategy to prepare for the World Championships in Tokyo next month, especially after she appeared to stumble on the first hurdle in her last Diamond League race in Lausanne, where she finished fifth in 12.82s.
In other updates, Nigeria’s Turkey-linked sprinter Favour Ofili has been removed from the women’s 200m event despite meeting the qualifying standard.
On the men’s side, African 400m hurdles record holder Ezekiel Nathaniel will compete in Zurich, aiming for a Diamond League title after claiming his first professional win at the Lausanne Diamond League last week in 48.08s.
Udodi Onwuzurike, who made his Diamond League debut in Lausanne, has also been listed for the men’s 200m final.
