Nigeria’s 400m hurdles star, Ezekiel Nathaniel, says he hopes his record-breaking performance at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo will motivate young athletes across the country, even though he narrowly missed out on a podium finish after placing fourth in the final.

The 22-year-old clocked a blistering 47.11 seconds on Friday, surpassing his previous national record of 47.31 set earlier this year. With that run, he became only the second Nigerian—after Henry Amike in 1987—to reach the men’s 400m hurdles final at a World Championships.

“I hope this performance will inspire young Nigerian athletes,” Nathaniel said after the race. “This is a great opportunity to learn from the best athletes in the world.”

The event was dramatic as American Rai Benjamin finally claimed his first world championship gold medal, winning in 46.52 seconds after previously settling for two silvers and a bronze. He was briefly disqualified for hitting the last hurdle and interfering with other runners, which initially pushed Nathaniel into third place. However, Benjamin’s appeal was upheld, and he was reinstated as champion.

Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos finished second in 46.84 seconds, while Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba secured bronze with 47.06 seconds, leaving Nathaniel just outside the medal positions.

Despite the heartbreak, the Nigerian hurdler accepted the ruling with grace.
“It’s a fair call,” he said. “He worked hard for that medal, and I don’t think it’s right to take it away. He didn’t intentionally knock down the hurdle—it could happen to anyone.”

Nathaniel, a former 800m runner who now competes for Baylor University in Texas, expressed pride in his performance and optimism for the future.
“I still have a lot of potential. I’m pleased because I did my best and ran a personal record. I know I have it in me and just need to wait for the right moment. For now, I’m enjoying the process,” he added.

His journey has been remarkable. Born in 2003, Nathaniel first announced himself in 2022 when he ran 48.42 seconds at the Big 12 Conference meet, breaking the long-standing national record set by Henry Amike.

This year, his rise accelerated. In June, he captured the NCAA Outdoor Championships title in Eugene, Oregon, with a time of 47.49 seconds—the third-fastest in NCAA history. He also became the first athlete in NCAA history to break the 48-second barrier in a 400m hurdles semifinal, clocking 47.86 seconds.

His Tokyo performance now cements his place among the world’s elite hurdlers, marking what has been an extraordinary season. Though his fourth-place finish equals Amike’s result from the 1987 World Championships in Rome, Nathaniel’s record-setting run points to a bright future for Nigerian athletics.

Nigeria wrapped up its campaign in Tokyo with Tobi Amusan as the nation’s only medallist—an improvement from the Budapest edition, where the team left without a podium finish.