INTERVIEW: “She was always accountable” – Mrs Amusan on raising a World Champion

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As the world celebrates International Women’s Day, PREMIUM TIMES shines a light on one of Nigeria’s brightest stars—a former World Champion and record-breaking hurdler, Tobi Amusan.

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Beyond the medals and accolades lies a story of resilience, sacrifice, and unwavering determination.

In this exclusive interview, Tobi’s mother, Mrs Amusan, shares insights into her daughter’s early years, the challenges she overcame, and the relentless drive that propelled her to global fame.

Excerpts…

PT: When Tobi decided to pursue sports as a career, how did the family react? Was it an easy decision to accept?

Mrs Amusan: It wasn’t a difficult decision for me because I had been an athlete myself. During my school days, I was actively involved in sports—I sprinted and played handball and hockey. Her father, too, was a footballer. So, from the beginning, sports were already in her blood.

Tobi started showing interest in sports from a very young age. Even in nursery school at Kiddies Home Montessori, she participated in school games. When she moved to Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, she played football and ran for the school in inter-house competitions. We always encouraged her.

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However, her father had reservations. He wanted her to focus on academics, as she dreamed of studying medicine. He believed sports could be a distraction, and like many Nigerian parents, he wanted her to take a more traditional professional path. But I knew she had the talent, and I supported her fully.

PT: How did you help convince her father to allow her to pursue sports?

Mrs Amusan: I had to be strategic about it. There were times I had to tell small lies just to allow her to attend training. Sometimes, I would tell her father that she was going for extra lessons when, in reality, she was in training. I knew that if she were around, she would be forced to stay home or focus only on academics.

But as time went on, the truth came out. Her coach approached my husband and assured him that Tobi had great potential. He explained how talented she was and how far she could go if given the right support. That conversation played a major role in changing his perspective.

Eventually, he began to see what we saw. He noticed that her passion and determination were unmatched. That was when he finally gave his full consent for her to pursue athletics.

PT: You were an athlete yourself. Can you tell us about your sporting background?

Mrs Amusan: Being a sprinter, during our own time, going into sporting activities was not all recognised, and they are not taken care of. That was why my mother said she was no longer interested in that area. So, I knew I had to put a stop to it.

On getting to Teacher Training (College), I hid my talents because I was told that if you are into sports and miss a test at teacher training Oru, you are on your own. So, I had to hide myself and my talents.

When we were able to do our final exam as teacher grade two level, we had to choose any event we were into that we wanted to do as practical, and I chose handball; I was given shooting, and thank God I shot the ball well. That was how I was given distinction in my PHE there. So, from there to Ijagun, and all like that.

So, Tobiloba started well, and I believe, if the Lord reigneth, she will finish well. So, that’s what I can say about her journey into sports from the cradle.

PT: Balancing school and education, especially athletics, is tough. How did Tobi manage both?

Mrs Amusan: I must be sincere with you. It is God’s doing. It is marvellous in our sight. I am not the one who assisted Tobi. The Lord did it. My own was to advise her, know where you are going to, remember the child of whom you are, don’t let me regret it that; I said I was sending you on errand, meanwhile you were going for training.

And she will say, “Mummy, should that be my aim or motives, I am not after that,” and I’m not bragging about it, but Tobi is not a wayward child, to the glory of God. She’s not one to misbehave on the streets.

If you send her on an errand, even before the advent of mobile phones, if she doesn’t see what she was sent to buy, and attends training, she can tell her coaches to borrow her their phones to call her mom that she couldn’t get what she was sent to buy.

I know the time she calls, and if I tell her not to buy anything else before I turn back, she’s already back in the shop with me.

So it’s God, not of my doing at all. She has never complained once whenever she goes for training because I had already told her that if she wants to be an athlete, she must be ready to read, and there must be time for study because her father wants her to be educated. The same as myself because I as well did.

According to my favourite adage to them, “Education is the simplest tool one can acquire without stress,” and whoever is educated can never suffer. That’s why I keep on hammering it that God did it. It’s not by my power.

PT: Did society ever question your decision to let her focus on athletics?

Mrs Amusan: No one could tell me that, as a teacher. I was a teacher before I retired in 2022, and they know; like one of my boys used to say, I can say my boy, Dr Nathaniel, now in Ijebu-ode, tells me that the athletics I was running from then is now what Tobi is doing, so no one spoke to me about if the athletics she is doing is wrong or not.

There are times when I can just decide to go to the stadium, probably on my way to the market then, and I will just see my daughter on the tracks. But, being a child that I know her whereabouts and all, I’m calm about it.

If it was to be that she was a troublesome child from the beginning, I might have been worried about what to do, or how to go about it but, she’s the last born, she didn’t give me trouble, no problem. God trained her. It could only have been God because, if I say I did, then I’m lying.

I go to school in the morning just as they do, and come back home in the afternoon, from there to the shop where they come to join me, and from there back home to sleep, after a long day, it’s the help of God, I can’t say other than that.

Mrs Amusan: The senior brother ventured into football at some time growing up, but because boys are what they are, I did not support him playing football because I know he is a soft-minded boy. He doesn’t like problems, and at the same time, as the mother, I don’t like somebody having excessive injuries.

You know playing football is not all that easy, just like Tobi, when she plays football, they call her “Shanko” on the field, because she will dribble you before you know it, she was good, that is why they called her Shanko. But I now told her to forget about football, so she went into a long jump. She was doing well also before she finally went into sprinting, which she started from nursery school to secondary school.

The Lord now showed her the way, that “hurdles” will be the one that will announce her, and from there, with the help of Coach Solomon, Coach Solo, the police officer at Lagos, helped her that you could do it, and she went into it before the Lord made things known to the world.

PT: When was that first moment when you knew she was destined for greatness?

Mrs Amusan: I can’t really pick a moment, but the one I remember was at Congo Brazzaville in 2015, when she won gold, and it was announced that my heart was beating.

You know, my daughter is not the type that when something happens, she wants people to know.

She’s not an internet friend, so when I called to greet her; Tobi, how is it going over there? She will just say: I won. I will say glory be to God and ask, if she has thanked God, and even before she leaves the tracks, you should have seen her putting her head on the track thanking God, all along like that, to that level that she was known all over the world. So that has been her way of life.

PT: But did it ever cross your mind that, ah, am I doing the right thing with Tobi? Can she, or should we just let her pursue her medicine career? Or should I just convince her to pursue any other thing apart from this sport? Did it ever cross your mind?

Mrs Amusan: It never crossed my mind at all, in the sense that what will be, will be. With God on our side, we are more than conquerors. We may be thinking that somebody wants to be a doctor, and that may not be his way or her way.

Although she wanted to be a medical doctor to study medicine, and we loved it as well, that at least… You know, in different Nigerian family setups, people who want somebody to be a doctor, somebody to be a lawyer, you will never see somebody telling you that you want somebody to be a teacher or a footballer or a sprinter, or an athlete. No, no, no.

But, because we can see that this girl has determined to go into athletics, and as well pursue an education. So, I did not disturb her. Mine is just to pray that wherever she gets to, God will take her there, and she won’t be wounded. Mine is to tell her to remember the child of whom she is, to face her career squarely, and not make friends that’ll lead her astray.

The response towards whatever I tell her is always positive. So that is why I’m 100% able to be sure that, without being a doctor, success still awaits. So far, she says she wants to go into sports, and she did not tell me that she’s not going to pursue her academics. I need no bias telling her that she should not go into sports.

PT: What was your reaction when she was accused of a whereabouts violation?

Mrs Amusan: It was devastating. I couldn’t believe it. Some people assumed she was trying to avoid a drug test, but my daughter has never run away from anything.

She was actually at home when the testers came, but instead of knocking or checking properly, they reported that she was missing. It was heartbreaking.

PT: How did the family handle the trauma of the suspension?

Mrs Amusan: It was very tough. I didn’t sleep for three days. The calls from people were overwhelming—some were comforting, while others only made things worse.

Tobi was deeply affected. She lost weight, she was mentally exhausted, and she kept questioning why this was happening to her.

Even when she had a competition in Sicily, she had to put on a brave face. She went out and still won, despite everything. That’s the kind of person she is—strong and determined.

PT: What was the family’s reaction when her name was finally cleared?

Mrs Amusan: We were so relieved. I always told her, “Those who tried to bring you down will one day sit and watch you shine.”

God took all the glory, and those who doubted her were put to shame. So many people stood by her, and for that, we are grateful.

PT: How did Tobi handle the disappointment, and how is she bouncing back?

Mrs Amusan: Her performance at the Olympics weighed her down greatly, she’s not happy, and it weighed her down, down, down. Ha, the Olympics! She doesn’t know what really happened there.

“It has not happened since she had started, but glory be to God she’s still alive.

“Failure today is not failure forever. If one fails now, it just means you should strive more so that you make it another time.

READ ALSO: How Tobi Amusan mastered balancing school with sports – Mother

“If somebody can leave where she resides in America to another place to improve on herself, so she’s still on it, working on herself.

“Currently, she’s in a training camp where we’ve not been able to have oral conversations. Even if one calls, she might not be available to pick, but responds with a message later on.

“Talking about her going for training, and just getting back to rest as shes still going back, there has not been chances for frivolous conversations lately, as shes dedicating a lot of time into training, and getting back into top shape again, so we converse only by chats.”

PT: Now that she has a Master’s, do you think marriage is next for her?

Mrs. Amusan: (Laughs) She has told me, “Mummy, marriage is not next on my list yet.” She still has more to accomplish before settling down.

PT: Any final words?

Mrs Amusan: I just pray that God continues to guide her and grant her success. She has worked so hard, and I believe she will finish well.