I never supported Tobi Amusan– Amusan’s father

Kehinde Amusan, the biological father of a hurdler and world champion, Tobi Amusan, tells JOHNNY EDWARD he had never supported the athlete (Tobi) in the early phases, his dream job for the athlete and how lack of funds almost saddened her dreams of becoming a world-class athlete

How would you pronounce watching your daughter Tobi break the 100m world record in hurdles event last Sunday in Oregon, United States?

He stated “I felt so much enthusiasm watching my daughter cruise to victory.

You know, as a parent and father, when you see your children winning, it makes you happy, given the consistency and efforts put into raising them. I believe it was just the mercy of the Almighty God, because as a father, when you have a child who wins, you will give all the glory back to the Creator of the Universe.

We are so speechless and we want to thank everyone both here and abroad that showed her love in attaining this great feat.

How did you celebrate her win?

I celebrated her success in my own little way. You know how we Nigerians are, so many family members and neighbours came around that early morning to join us in the celebration of Tobi. We sang, prayed and returned all the glory to Almighty God. All our supporters also came around to share in our joy.

What was going through your mind before and during the final stage of the race?

As a family, we were all following her races, including when she firstly set a new African record of 12.40secs. Many of our neighbours and supporters also kept an eye on the race and kept conversing it with me when we spoke together on the phone.

They confidently believed she would win a medal, but not many people, including myself thought she could win gold medal, let alone break the existing world record. In the final, I just kept my eyes on the race. As a family, we continued to pray for her, and when she won the gold, I was so happy.