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| Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan closed her 2026 track season with a thrilling second-place finish in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Athlos meeting in London, collecting a cool $35,000 prize. In simple words, the Nigerian star ran a strong race but came up just short of victory. At StoneX Stadium in Barnet on Friday, Amusan stopped the clock at 12.51 seconds with a helpful +1.2 m/s wind. American Alaysha Johnson won by the tiniest of margins, finishing in 12.50 seconds — only one-hundredth of a second faster. That razor-thin gap decided the top two spots and handed Johnson the Athlos hurdles crown. The field was competitive. Commonwealth Games champion and wo werld indoor record holder Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas took third in 12.63 seconds. Jamaica’s former world champion Danielle Williams matched that time for fourth. Another Jamaican, Megan Simmonds, placed fifth in 12.66 seconds, while American Rayniah Jones finished sixth in 12.83 seconds.
Amusan, a former world record holder, had been confirmed for the London event in August. It marked the final race of her season. She had already enjoyed a solid year, including a second-place finish behind Masai Russell at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, where she earned $75,000 after running 12.34 seconds in the final. Russell, the current world record holder and Olympic champion, had been expected in London but withdrew earlier in the week after winning the Diamond League and the big $150,000 prize in Budapest. Russell had earlier taken Amusan’s world record, running 12.09 seconds in Zurich and shaving three-hundredths off the 12.12 seconds Amusan set in the 2022 World Championships semi-final in Eugene. Russell has now beaten Amusan three times this season, including at the Diamond League Final in Brussels.
Athlos itself is a professional, women-only track and field series created by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, husband of tennis legend Serena Williams. It launched in New York in 2024 with a $2.1 million prize purse. Athletes chase $65,000 top prizes in each event, plus an Athlos crown designed by Tiffany & Co., and even equity in the league. Ohanian has said the money and ownership aim to give elite female athletes the same recognition they receive during the Olympics.
For Amusan, the London silver and $35,000 payday provided a positive end to a season in which she stayed among the world’s best hurdlers despite losing her long-held world record. The Nigerian will now prepare for the next campaign, still chasing major medals and aiming to remain a force at the highest level of the sport. |
