Fasuba sets new records in Birmingham win

Annabela, the daughter of former Nigerian sprint sensation Olusoju Fasuba, clocked 12.03 seconds to win the junior girls’ 100m at the 2024 English Schools Athletics Championships at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium on Saturday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The 13-year-old started slowly but caught and passed the rest of the group to win the race, setting a new personal and club record.

It was the third time Annabelle had broken her own club record for the 100m, solidifying her position as the record holder. She is now the reigning champion at the English School Track & Field Championships, making her a proud recipient of the legendary Dina Asha Smith Award.

The prodigiously talented sprinter continues to make headlines, breaking records.

In May, she broke a 40-year-old club record at the Devon Open Series meeting at Brickfields, clocking an impressive time of 24.39 seconds to win the under-15 girls’ 200m.

This broke Linda Wilson’s club record of 25.0 seconds, which had stood since 1984.

The time was also faster than British international athlete Katherine Endacott’s under-17 and under-20 club records, and also moved the youngster into 15th place on the UK’s all-time list in her age group, ahead of the likes of Dina Asher-Smith and Donna Fraser.

Fasuba had already broken the Plymouth city under-15 100 metres record earlier that month with a run of 12.09 in Exeter. She also broke two Devon County Championships records and a South West League record in just her first two months of racing.

But few in Nigeria’s Plymouth City will be surprised by his natural talent, as both his parents were Olympic sprinters, and his father, who once played for the city’s club, was the 2008 indoor world champion in the 60m and went on to win the Olympics. He also held the African record for 100m for many years.