Old video shared as record-breaking performance of Nigerian athlete at 2024 Paris Olympics

What is the claim?

A video showing a women's hurdle event has gone viral with the claim that it shows Nigerian track and field athlete Tobi Amusan making history by setting two World records at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Social media users shared the video with the caption, "Tobi Amusan, Nigeria's hurdles sensation made history last night at the ongoing Paris Olympics Games. She shattered not one, but TWO world records in a single evening, leaving the world in awe." Archived versions of some such posts can be seen here, here, here, and here. A senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria also shared the video with the viral caption (archived here).

Screenshots of viral social media posts sharing a 2022 video as record-breaking performance of a Nigerian athlete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

In the video, we can hear the commentator saying, "Tobi Amusan! Look at the clock. I cannot believe it. She's done it again. She has two world records in one night, and she makes history by becoming Nigeria's first world champion. What a way to do it! What a stage on which to discover sporting immortality! Records can be broken, titles would stand the test of time, and tonight she's done both, two world records! 12:06, tonight would never be forgotten by anybody lucky enough to be here. That was extraordinary. We doubted she could do it again; how dare we? Nigeria, the proud African nation, is on top of the world tonight."

However, the video is old and is unrelated to the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

What are the facts?

Through a reverse image search using keyframes from the viral video, we found that the video dates back to 2022. The official World Athletics YouTube account posted a part of the viral clip on July 25, 2022 (archived here) and wrote, "WORLD RECORD 12.12 🇳🇬 - Amusan wins 100m hurdles | World Athletics Championships Oregon 22."

We also found an extended version of the viral video posted on the World Athletics YouTube page (archived here) on June 12, 2023, with the caption, "Women's 100m Hurdles Final | World Athletics Championships Oregon 2022." We identified that the footage from the viral clip matches the 3:01 to 4:12 mark in the YouTube video, further confirming that the clip is actually from the 2022 event. 

Nigerian news website Channels Television also reported (archived here) on the event on July 26, 2022, and wrote, "Amusan Breaks World Record, Wins Gold At World Athletics Championships." They shared the race video, which matches the viral clip. The footage from the 1:10 to 1:55 mark matches the viral video.

World Athletics reported in 2022 that Tobi Amusan won the women's 100m hurdles final on July 24 at the World Athletics Championships Oregon 22 event. Her time was 12.06 – 0.06, faster than the world record time she had set on the same day in the first heat of the semifinals.

World Athletics (formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations) is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded to fulfill the need for a world governing authority, a competition program, standardized technical equipment, and a list of official world records. They organize the World Athletics Championships every year. 

Paris Olympics 2024

According to the official Paris Olympics schedule, the Women's 100m Hurdles event has not been held yet and is scheduled for August 7, 2024. Amusan shall be competing at the Paris 2024, marking the third Olympic participation in the 100m hurdles.

The verdict

The viral video is actually from the World Athletics Championships 2022, showing Nigerian athlete Tobi Amusan creating two world records on the same day. This video is being incorrectly shared as a recent record made during the 2024 Paris Olympics.