Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan finished second in the women’s 100m hurdles at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Friday.

Amusan clocked 12.34 seconds to claim the silver medal, finishing behind United States Olympic champion Masai Russell, who won the title in 12.22 seconds.

Netherlands’ Nadine Visser completed the podium in 12.39 seconds.

Amusan, the former world record holder in the event, was unable to reclaim the top spot from Russell, who broke her world record with a time of 12.09 seconds at the Zurich Diamond League in August.

Russell entered the Budapest final as the favourite after her record-breaking performance in Zurich and continued her impressive 2026 campaign with another victory.

The American maintained her unbeaten run this year, adding the Ultimate Championship title to her Diamond League Final triumph in Brussels last week.

Reflecting on her performance after the race, Amusan said she approached the championship determined to give everything she had after what she described as a challenging period during the season.

“First, God is good,” Amusan said.

“What started off as an amazing season, you know, in between I had some nipping here and there. You know, I’m not a robot. You know, the body did shut down at a point.”

The hurdler said she gradually regained her momentum by taking each race at a time before arriving in Budapest with a determined mindset.

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“Coming into this championship, my mindset going to the line was, ‘We die here.’ I just kept telling myself I have to give it my all,” she said.

Amusan said she was determined to put everything into the race regardless of the eventual outcome.

“All I knew was, look, I did it. That’s all I knew. And the second I saw the second-place finish, I was like, look, I can’t complain. God is good,” she said.

Her silver medal comes after a difficult few weeks for the former world record holder. Amusan finished third at the Commonwealth Games and later saw her 100m hurdles world record broken by Russell before finishing fourth at the Diamond League Final.

She admitted that the period had been emotionally difficult but credited her family, mentor, coach and boyfriend for helping her regain confidence.

“I’m not going to lie. It was very rough,” Amusan said.

“I mean, to my family, to my mentor, to my coach, to my boyfriend. That’s brought life back into me.”

According to her, words of encouragement from those around her helped her put the setbacks behind her and focus on the race in Budapest.

“This morning it was all about put the past behind you and just go for it. And those few sentences that I got here and there got me to this finish line today,” she said.

Amusan said her second-place finish, together with her Commonwealth medal, represented a positive response to the setbacks she had experienced.

“With the Commonwealth medal, it is a statement,” she said.

On the growing competitiveness in the women’s 100m hurdles, Amusan described the event as increasingly difficult, warning that the battle among the leading hurdlers will become even more intense.

“Honestly, in that event, I think I would be the sleeping lion,” she said.

“I think the women’s hurdles is just getting scarier every damn year. Next year, I do not know what’s going to happen. But it’s going to be bloody.”

Former Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo has joined the Federal Government’s growing consultations on the proposed reform of Nigerian football after meeting with National Sports Commission (NSC) Chairman Shehu Dikko.

Yobo, who serves as Special Technical Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Professional Football Development, met with Dikko on Tuesday as the NSC intensifies efforts to review the structures, policies and commercial framework of the country’s football industry.

Although details of the meeting were not disclosed, the engagement comes at a critical period for Nigerian football, with the government pushing for broad reforms of the game’s administration and business ecosystem.

The discussions reportedly focused on strengthening football structures, improving the viability of the domestic game and unlocking its commercial potential under the Renewed Hope Initiative for Nigerian Sports Economy (RHINSE).

The NSC’s reform agenda goes beyond performances on the pitch, with issues including administration, infrastructure, youth development, financing, domestic competitions and commercialisation forming part of the wider conversation.

Yobo’s inclusion brings the perspective of a former elite player who experienced Nigerian football at both domestic and international levels.

The former Everton and Fenerbahçe defender won 100 caps for Nigeria and captained the Super Eagles to the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations title.

His current position within the Presidency also gives him a direct role in discussions around the development of professional football and places him at the intersection of government policy and the sport’s commercial interests.

The meeting with Dikko is part of a broader stakeholder engagement by the NSC as the government seeks views from individuals with experience across different areas of the football ecosystem.

However, the effectiveness of the reform exercise will ultimately be measured by the changes it produces rather than the number of consultations held.

Nigerian football has, for years, grappled with concerns over the administration of the game, the strength of domestic competitions, infrastructure, talent development and the ability to convert the country’s huge football following into sustainable commercial value.

The government now faces the challenge of translating recommendations from the consultations into lasting institutional reforms that can withstand changes in personnel and administrations.

For the NSC, the objective is to establish a football system that can generate sustainable revenue, strengthen domestic competitions, improve talent development and restore confidence in the administration of the sport.

The latest engagement with Yobo signals that former players and other football stakeholders are increasingly being drawn into the process

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said he was “very surprised” by Gabriel Jesus’s claim that he was forced to train alone and was given no information prior to joining Barcelona.

Jesus ended his four-year spell with the Gunners in September and has since made it clear he felt disappointed with the way his exit was handled.

The Brazilian striker said in an interview this week that “out of nowhere they put me to train apart from the group”, adding that “nobody told me nothing” before he signed for Barcelona.

Responding to Jesus’s criticism, Arteta insisted he had spoken to the former Manchester City star about the transfer and had parted on good terms.

“Very surprised, to be fair. Especially because with Gabi (Jesus) I had an individual talk in the dressing room,” he told reporters on Friday.

“I don’t know what words were said, it’s fine. The words that we used were all about gratitude.”

Arteta also came under fire from former Arsenal striker Ian Wright, who recently said he was “uncomfortable” with what he perceived to be a lack of dialogue between the club and Gabriel Martinelli, who moved to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal on September 3.

But Arteta used the presence of Leandro Trossard, who was sold to Besiktas in July, to watch Arsenal’s victory over Chelsea last weekend as an example of the club’s bond with their former players.

“I don’t know, it’s OK. Sometimes I understand that when you have to deliver bad news, or news that people don’t expect, somebody has to be the bad cop. If I have to be, I have to be and I understand,” he said ahead of the Premier League champions’ trip to Sunderland on Saturday.

“What is important is normally what happens three months or six months later. When Trossard comes, he’s in the dressing room with all of us, the atmosphere and the relationship you have.

“Thank God so far that with all the players that left, at some point the relationship has been really good. I hope this is the same case.”