- Takes fourth place in final race
Ezekiel Nathaniel made history for Nigeria at the Tokyo 2025 World Championships, breaking the national record in the men’s 400m hurdles final with a blistering 47.11 seconds to finish fourth.
Interestingly, Nathaniel was briefly celebrated as a World Championship bronze medalist after the initial winner, American Rai Benjamin was disqualified for a purported lane infringement.
However, following a successful appeal, Benjamin’s result was reinstated, returning him to the gold medal position with Nathaniel pushed back to fourth place.
The Nigerian hurdler’s time of 47.11 seconds was just 0.05 seconds shy of Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba, who the took bronze medal in 47.06 seconds.
American Benjamin’s reinstated winning time stood at 46.54 seconds, while Brazil’s Alison dos Santos came second for the silver medal in 46.84 seconds.
Despite the disappointment of a fourth place finishing, the 21-year-old Nathaniel’s performance still cements his place among the world’s elite hurdlers and sets a new benchmark for Nigerian athletics.
Already, athletics pundits said his record-breaking showing in Tokyo has offered hope for a possible global podium finish in the nearest future.
The former national record of 47.31 seconds was set by Nathaniel on 16th August 2025 while participating in the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial held at Chorzów, Poland.
The Kamila Skolimowska Memorial is an annual Diamond League track and field event held at the Silesian Stadium, organized by the Kamila Skolimowska Foundation to honor Poland’s first female Olympic hammer champion, Kamila Skolimowska.
The meeting is a key event in the Diamond League series, featuring top international athletes and providing opportunities for young athletes to train with champions.
