‘Mental alertness is key in my preparations’, says Amusan

By Rasheed Adewuyi

Women’s 100m hurdles World Athletics champion, Tobiloba Amusan (12:12secs) has revealed how she prepares for every race.

The Nigeria track prodigy is currently the World and Olympic champion in Women’s 100-meters hurdles and disclosed this while speaking on a short video chat posted online.

“Most times when I train, I do my little talking in my head to prepare myself mentally. What I do in training is what I do on the tracks,” she says.

“So, when you see me out there, I am not crazy, I do this every day, especially when I have lots of hurdle practices.

“We put our bodies through six hours of training every day for six days a week. And you can be the fittest person in a race and mentally you just get distracted by the other runners on the tracks.

“A few moments of that could ruin everything. And with my kind of event, you need 100 per cent focus. So, the mental part is just as important, if not more, because you have done the work by training hard and now you show up at the track. Sometimes, it’s not about who is the toughest.

“I have been in every championship finals and it’s not about the toughest, but who wants it and can relax and execute in most of the race scenarios.”