“To go for training, I would pretend I was going to church,” Amusan says of her father’s opposition to her choosing an athletic career.
Amusan participated in a Monday interview with BBC Sport Africa.
The 25-year-old sprinter, who stormed to an astounding 12.12 seconds in the semifinal of the 100-meter hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, is the first Nigerian to hold a world record in athletics.
She then ran a wind-aided 12.06 seconds to win gold in the championship final, which was not a world record because of the strong wind (+2.5 meters per second).
Amusan described how her mother would “tell my dad I was going to church while I sneaked to practice” as she reflected on the development of her career.
The Olympic gold medalist called her parents “strict disciplinarians.” However, she claimed that at the beginning of her career, her mother was the only support system she had.
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She said, “My parents were strict disciplinarians and that they were both teachers”
“When you grow up in such a family, they feel you should focus on school. And being a female, they think you are going to go astray, lose focus and all of that.
“But because my mum saw what I didn’t see [in] myself, she felt she could give me a chance. And she kept telling me not to disappoint her.
“My mum would tell my dad I was going to church while I sneaked to practice or tell him I was going to a school debate while I went to an out-of-state competition. That’s where it all started.
“My dad got really mad one time when he found out [I was running]. He burnt all my training gear and told my mum that’s the last time he wanted to see me in a stadium.”
The Post “To go for training, I would pretend I was going to church,” Amusan says of her father’s opposition to her choosing an athletic career” initially appeared on reubenabati
