The 2022 Commonwealth Games were due to be held over 11 days from Thursday July 28 to Monday August 8 at Birmingham City in the UK’s West Midlands. The competition had promised a different experience than the previous tournament held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia in 2018. Since the previous campaign, the world has transformed into a new normal due to the widespread impact of the sudden coronavirus pandemic. Covid19. . Like other facets of nations’ wealth that drive the global economy, tourism and sports travel are still recovering valiantly from the shock of Covid19.
An estimated 30,000 spectators were received at the Alexander Arena for the Birmingham 2022 Opening Ceremony, a deficit of five thousand spectators compared to the Gold Coast 2018 unveiling concert at the Carrara Stadium. However, more than 1.3 million tickets were reportedly sold at this year’s Games, compared to 1.06 million ticket sales recorded in 2018.
The UK government earlier said “Birmingham 2022 delivers the biggest sport and para-sport program and more medals for women than men for the first time ever at a major multi-sport event”. Backed by public investment of £778 million, Birmingham 2022 is seen as the most significant investment in a major sporting event since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. “It will leave a lasting legacy for the people of Birmingham and the West Midlands,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at the opening ceremony.
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However, for the hundreds of thousands of viewers who strove to follow the tournament around the world and literally, what evoked memories and moments of social enjoyment was not the big-budget platform funded from the coffers of the British government, but grace the platform with the magnificent performances of 6,500 athletes from 72 nations who competed in different Games events.
Tobi Amusan has been in the spotlight since winning a gold medal with an outstanding performance clocking 12.68 seconds in the women’s 100m hurdles final of the 2018 campaign. The Nigerian hurdler , then 22, recently updated her records to 25 after clocking 12.12 and 12.06 seconds respectively in the semifinals and finals of the women’s 100m hurdles at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene Oregon which ended a few weeks ago.
Amusan’s clean sweep of 12.12 seconds broke American Kendra Harrison’s six-year record of 12.20 seconds in London and moved her to a decisive victory in 12.06 seconds that made she the first Nigerian athlete to win a world title at the World Championships in Athletics. His victory did not fail to inspire controversial musings from pundits, as you would expect from any great feat. While Nigerians were still celebrating their heroine’s achievement on the international stage, Guardian sports analyst Sean Ingle wrote that Amusan’s achievement was powered by Adidas’ latest super shoes, Adizero Avanti, which are billed to specifically assist field and obstacle athletes. The British journalist writes as follows:
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan has reignited the debate over new super athletic shoes by unexpectedly breaking the 100m hurdles world record in Eugene.
Immediately after the race, former 200m and 400m world record holder Michael Johnson wondered if the timing system at Hayward Field was off. He was far from alone. However, it turned out that Amusan got a boost by using Adidas Adizero Avanti shoes, which are designed for 5k and 10k runners, rather than track spikes.
Predictably, Ingles’ op-ed could not escape criticism from thousands of Amusan diehards who wondered if the Nigerian’s admirable track record had all been orchestrated by great shoes . The Nigerian windsprinter had also excelled in her field during the Diamond League 2021, in Zurich, which made her the first African to do so and incidentally to break the African record then held by Glory Alozie. The proverbial African and world champion won back-to-back gold medals from 2018 to 2022, distinguishing her ability far from being a fry in the pan.
“My abilities are not centered on spikes,” said Tobi Amusan who revealed the shoes were recommended to her as she consulted Adidas after having installations from Patella at the start of the season which made her makes you feel depressed for a while. The world championship record was a moment she had prepared for a long time ago.
So many Nigerians, Africans and even non-Africans have been primed to seek out the Nigerian-born sprint runner in the women’s 100m hurdles at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where she is expected to falsify the conspiracy theory and retain her title. of defending champion. Finishing first in round 1 of round 3 of the 100m hurdles at 12.40s ahead of Australian Mitchell Jenneke and Canadian Mitchell Harrison who finished second and third with 12.63s and 12.85s respectively, Amusan qualified for the final where she once again defended her Commonwealth. title with his squirrel-footed sprint to the delight of thousands of his fans. In the final, Amusan managed with 12.30 seconds to become the first world champion to win a gold medal at the event and the first Nigerian athlete to be crowned champion at any level of athletics during the same year.
Tobi Amusan’s story encapsulates the flow or zone moment that Daniel Goleman refers to in his bestselling book, Emotional intelligence: why it may matter more than IQ. The retired American psychologist and science journalist described the flow as a fascinating moment of grace and bewilderment inspired by the unconscious intelligence and energy that is activated by repetitive work aimed at mastery – a line of thought from Goleman generally based on Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour theory. Additionally, Stephen Pressfield in his War on Art, described the area from an idealistic point of view, saying it is when the muse overwhelms the individual, but the muse cannot activate in the sans. talent or the undisciplined.