Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan won the silver medal in the women’s 100m hurdles at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, on Friday.

Amusan clocked 12.34 seconds to finish second behind United States Olympic champion Masai Russell, who won the title in 12.22 seconds.

Netherlands’ Nadine Visser completed the podium after finishing third in 12.39 seconds.

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

Russell entered the Budapest final as the favourite following her record-breaking performance in Zurich and maintained her impressive form to claim another victory.

The American also extended her unbeaten run in 2026, adding the Ultimate Championship title to the Diamond League Final crown she won in Brussels last week.

Reflecting on her performance after the race, Amusan said she went into the championship determined to give her best after 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 29-year-old hurdler said she gradually regained her momentum by taking each race as it came before arriving in Budapest with a determined mindset.

“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.

The silver medal came after a difficult period for Amusan, who finished third at the Commonwealth Games before Russell broke her 100m hurdles world record. She later finished fourth at the Diamond League Final.

Amusan admitted that the setbacks had been emotionally difficult but credited her family, mentor, coach and boyfriend with helping her regain her 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.”

She said the encouragement she received from those close to her helped her put the setbacks behind her and focus on the Budapest race.

“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, alongside 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 increasing competitiveness in the women’s 100m hurdles, Amusan described the event as becoming more difficult, warning that the battle among the leading hurdlers would intensify.

“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.”

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that Nigeria’s public universities could face another nationwide strike unless the Federal and State governments urgently address outstanding salary, welfare, and implementation issues affecting university lecturers.

The warning, it said, followed an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the union’s National Secretariat at the University of Abuja on September 5, 2026.

The union said that at the centre of the dispute are the non- or haphazard implementation of the December 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement, three-and-a-half months of withheld salaries dating from the previous administration, unremitted third-party deductions and concerns over university autonomy.

ASUU President, Christopher Piwuna, said the union would not accept responsibility for any disruption of academic activities if the outstanding issues were not resolved.

“Except for recent attempts by the Federal Ministry of Education to defray outstanding salaries for Federal Universities of Agriculture, there have been no concerted efforts to address our concerns and worries on a sustainable basis,” said the union.

“Each month, lecturers have been forced to be at daggers drawn with their vice-chancellors over uncertainty of when and what part of their salaries would be paid. This time, the union’s message to the nation is clear: Unless immediate and concrete steps are taken to FULLY and COMPREHENSIVELY address issues bordering the welfare and well-being of Nigerian academics, ASUU-NEC will not accept any blame for calling out its members on a nationwide strike action within the shortest time possible,” he stated.

The union said the unresolved issues are already creating industrial tensions in universities, with some state university branches moving towards strike action

ASUU commended states including Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno, where implementation of the 2025 Agreement has commenced. It also noted pledges to begin implementation in Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa in September or October.

The union said universities concerned had been notified of the commencement of strike actions unless satisfactory progress was recorded.

There have been a series of industrial disputes in recent weeks.

ASUU chapters at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, and Plateau State University had declared indefinite strikes over unresolved demands, including implementation of the 2025 agreement and payment of arrears.

At Sule Lamido University, Kafin Hausa, the ASUU branch also announced a two-week warning strike beginning September 15 over unresolved issues with the Jigawa State Government, with a warning that the action could escalate into a total and indefinite strike.

ASUU stated that three-and-a-half months of the seven-and-a-half months of salaries withheld during the Buhari administration remain unpaid.

The union acknowledged that President Bola Tinubu’s government had paid four months but said the outstanding balance continued to impose financial and psychological hardship on lecturers.

It also said the value of the withheld income had fallen by more than 50 per cent since 2022.

“It will do this government a lot of good to restore the full confidence of lecturers in the nation-building project, for which Nigerian scholars are critical pillars and pivots. We state for the umpteenth time that the lecturers have done the work for which they are being punished.

“They did it at huge cost to their physical and psycho-social well-being. Some lost their lives in the process, and many are now managing life-threatening ailments. For healing and restoration in the Nigerian University System (NUS), we think the withheld salaries of lecturers should be released without further delay. As for us in ASUU, we shall not give up until our cries get an empathetic attention in the appropriate quarters,” its president stated.

The union further said pension contributions, cooperative society deductions and union check-off dues deducted from lecturers’ salaries, running into billions of naira, had not been appropriately remitted for several months.

ASUU said the issue of third-party deductions had produced only limited progress in its engagements with government and warned that it was prepared to call out its members if the matter was not resolved.

The warning comes even as the Federal Government announced steps towards implementing part of the 2025 agreement.

On September 9, the government said it had released funds for the full payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance to academic staff in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for January to August 2026.

The Education Minister, Tunji Alausa, said the payment was being implemented in line with the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement.

ASUU, however, said other core elements of the agreement remained unresolved.

But the union warned that the situation could push more universities into industrial action and called on students, parents, labour leaders, the media and other Nigerians to intervene before the crisis escalates.

“In no mistaken terms, ASUU posits that the non- or haphazard implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement by federal and state governments is a recipe for industrial crisis in Nigeria’s public universities,” its president stated. “In the same vein, withholding the three-and-a-half months’ salaries and third-party deductions by the government is an ill wind for lasting peace on our campuses. We call on students, parents, media practitioners, labour leaders and other patriotic Nigerians to come into the brewing crisis before it gets out of hand.

“ASUU cannot guarantee an uninterrupted academic calendar at the expense of the existential needs of our members. We shall not watch helplessly while red-tapism incrementally frustrates and destroys what is left of the academic profession and universities in Nigeria.”

ASUU said its latest position is not an immediate declaration of a nationwide strike, but a warning that its suspended industrial action could be activated if the government fails to respond satisfactorily.

The union said its doors remained open to negotiations with the Federal and State governments, but maintained that the welfare of lecturers could not continue to be separated from the stability of Nigeria’s university system.

A former head coach of the Super Eagles, Austin Eguavoen, has been appointed to lead Nigeria’s Super Falcons on a temporary basis as the search for a permanent manager continues.

His immediate assignment is navigating the 2028 Olympic Games second-round qualifying tie against Comoros this October.

Eguavoen brings top-tier experience to the role, having previously guided the Super Eagles to a bronze medal at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Joining the interim technical crew is Nasarawa Amazons head coach Christopher Danjuma, who recently led the Falconets at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Former Super Falcons defender Ayisat Yusuf – who earned 68 caps and featured at the 2008 Beijing Olympics – also joins as an assistant coach, alongside veteran goalkeeper trainer Olatunji Baruwa.

The 10-time African champions will kick off their campaign against Comoros, who advanced after a staggering 30-0 aggregate win over Sudan.

Both legs of the fixture will take place at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne-Remo on October 9 and 13, 2026.

To secure one of Africa’s two spots at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, Nigeria must navigate four two-legged knockout rounds.

Should they beat Comoros, the Super Falcons will move on to the third round in early 2027 to face either Morocco or the Democratic Republic of Congo. Subsequent rounds are set for late 2027, where potential clashes against sides like Cameroon, South Africa, or Zambia loom in the final stretch.