Nigeria’s medal hopeful, Tobi Amusan has won her heat to reach the Women’s 100m hurdles semi-final at the ongoing World Athletics championship in Budapest. Hungary.

Amusan ran a time of 12.48 seconds to come first in heat number five, with Megan Tapper coming second in a time of 12.51 seconds.

Michelle Jenneke of Australia ran a time of 12.71 seconds to come third in the race, while Natalia Christofi came fourth in a time of 12.90 seconds.

Amusan will attempt to reach the final of the tournament on Wednesday.

Amusan is the current World, Commonwealth and African champion in the 100m hurdles, as well as the meet record holder in those three competitions.

Amusan became the first ever Nigerian world champion and world record holder in an athletics event when she won the 2022 World Championships 100 m hurdles gold medal, setting the current world record of 12.12 seconds (+0.9m/s) in the semi-final, followed up by a 12.06 seconds (+2.5m/s) in the final.

She won back-to-back Commonwealth and African titles in 2018 and 2022 in the 100m hurdles and is also a two-time African Games champion in the event.

She is also the current Diamond league champion in the 100 metres hurdles having won the final in 12.29 seconds (-0.3m/s) winning back to back titles in 2022 and 2023.

Amusan's presence at the global showpiece was a surprise, with her suspension lifted just two days before the meet began.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) provisionally suspended the Nigerian last month due to three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period, but the decision was overturned by the AIU's disciplinary tribunal panel.

Her announcement in Tuesday's heat received a mix of cheers with a smattering of boos.

The details of her case will be published on the AIU's website as early as Wednesday, chair David Howman told reporters. The AIU have 30 days to decide whether or not to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

"We have some concern that it might set a precedent which will be difficult for future cases," Howman said. "So the job we will undertake is to get an independent review of the decision, to determine whether we should consider appealing and then as a board we have to decide whether we will take that step."

The semi-finals are on Wednesday.