Nigeria’s 400m hurdles sensation Ezekiel Nathaniel has set his sights on inspiring the next generation of athletes after a record-breaking performance at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where he narrowly missed out on a medal.
The 22-year-old ran a blistering 47.11 seconds in Friday’s final, smashing his own national record of 47.31 seconds set earlier this year. His run made him only the second Nigerian—after Henry Amike in 1987—to reach the 400m hurdles final at a World Championships.
“I hope this performance will inspire young Nigerian athletes,” Nathaniel told Saturday PUNCH after the dramatic final. “This is a great opportunity to learn from the world’s best.”
The race drama
The final was not without controversy. American Rai Benjamin stormed to victory in 46.52 seconds, clinching his first world title after years of near misses. However, he was briefly disqualified for crashing into the last hurdle and affecting other runners—momentarily promoting Nathaniel to bronze.
The appeal was upheld, reinstating Benjamin as champion, with Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos (46.84s) taking silver and Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba (47.06s) bronze, leaving Nathaniel agonisingly close in fourth.
Nathaniel accepted the outcome gracefully:
“It’s a fair call. He didn’t deliberately knock over the hurdle; that could happen to anyone.”
A rapid rise
Nathaniel’s journey has been remarkable. A former 800m runner now competing for Baylor University, Texas, he first broke Amike’s decades-old national record in 2022 with 48.42 seconds at the Big 12 Conference meet.
This year, his career reached new heights. In June, he won the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Oregon, clocking 47.49 seconds, the third fastest time in NCAA history. He also became the first man in NCAA history to run a sub-48 semifinal with 47.86 seconds.
Looking ahead
While his fourth-place finish equals Amike’s feat at the 1987 Worlds in Rome, Nathaniel’s Tokyo run signals the arrival of a new force in Nigerian athletics.
“I still have a lot of potential. I’m pleased because I did my best and ran a personal record. I just need to wait for the right time. For now, I’m enjoying the process,” he said.
Nigeria ended the Tokyo championships with Tobi Amusan as the country’s only medallist, marking an improvement from Budapest where Team Nigeria failed to win any medal.
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