Diamond League confirms Amusan for season opener

World 100 metres hurdles record holder Tobi Amusan has been officially listed among the entrants for the 2025 Diamond League season opener in Xiamen, China, as she begins her quest for another title-winning campaign on the global circuit, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The entry list for the Xiamen Meeting, published on Tuesday, confirms Amusan’s participation in what is set to be a highly competitive field.

The event will take place on April 26 at the Egret Stadium and will feature nine track and seven field events in the main program, marking the third edition of the Chinese leg of the prestigious athletics series.

Amusan, who holds a personal best of 12.12 seconds and currently sits 13th in the global rankings, will face fierce competition in the 100 metres hurdles. The line-up includes Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas, the world indoor record holder in the 60 metres hurdles and ranked seventh globally, Danielle Williams of Jamaica, a world champion with a personal best of 12.32, and top American contenders such as Grace Stark, Tonea Marshall, and Nia Ali.

Her participation in Xiamen comes off the back of a winning start to her season in Jamaica, where she competed at the Velocity Fest 16 on Saturday and came out victorious in the women’s 100 metres final with a time of 11.28 seconds (-0.5 wind).

It was her first competitive race since last year’s Olympic Games in Paris and her first major outing since joining the Racers Track Club in Kingston. She finished ahead of Jamaica’s Serena Cole (11.45) and Bahamian sprinter Anthonique Strachan (11.46) in what was an encouraging return to the circuit.

Amusan’s inclusion follows her fifth-place finish in last year’s edition, where she posted a season’s best of 12.58 seconds in a final dominated by Camacho-Quinn in 12.45 seconds, with Charlton and France’s Cyréna Samba-Mayela also ahead of the Nigerian champion.

This year’s opener, however, presents an early opportunity for her to reassert her dominance ahead of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September and the Diamond League Final in Zurich in August.

The Nigerian hurdler is among several Olympic and world champions scheduled to open their season in Xiamen. Other headliners include Swedish pole vault sensation Mondo Duplantis, Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh, American hurdler Grant Holloway, and Botswana’s 200 metres Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo.