World record holder, Tobi Amusan, eased into the semi-finals of the women’s 100m hurdles at the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

On Sunday, Amusan clocked 12.53 seconds to win her heat, finishing ahead of Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton and Italy’s Elena Carraro, who placed second and third respectively.

Although she recorded only the fifth-best reaction time at the start, the Nigerian star quickly took control of the race and maintained her lead to the finish line.

Amusan has been drawn in Heat 2 of the semi-finals, where she will face the Netherlands’ Nadine Visser, ranked third in the world. She currently sits ninth in the global rankings. Under the competition format, the top two athletes from each of the three semi-final heats will qualify for the final, along with the next two fastest runners across all heats.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Oyesade Olatoye crashed out of the women’s hammer throw after failing to advance to the final. The US-born athlete, who switched allegiance to Nigeria in 2019, managed a best throw of 68.82m in her third attempt, finishing 10th in Group A of the qualification round.

With Olatoye’s exit, Amusan now stands as Nigeria’s sole female contender at the championships.