Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel produced an impressive performance on Friday at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, breaking the national record in the men’s 400 metres hurdles final despite narrowly missing out on a medal.
The 22-year-old ran a blistering 47.11 seconds to finish fourth, shaving over two-tenths off his previous season’s best and setting a new Nigerian benchmark in the event. Remarkably, it was the sixth time this year that Nathaniel has broken the national record, underlining his extraordinary progression in 2025.
The gold medal went to American Rai Benjamin, who stormed to victory in a season’s best 46.52 seconds. Brazil’s Alison dos Santos followed in 46.84 seconds to claim silver, while Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba took bronze with a season’s best of 47.06. Nathaniel crossed just behind Samba, missing the medal spots by fractions of a second.
For a brief period, the result was thrown into chaos as Benjamin was disqualified for displacing a hurdle and impeding another athlete, which elevated Nathaniel to bronze. However, following an appeal, the decision was overturned and Benjamin was reinstated as champion.
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Karsten Warholm, the Olympic champion and world number one from Norway, surprisingly finished fifth in 47.58 seconds, while Germany’s Emil Agyekum placed sixth in 47.98. Caleb Dean of the USA (48.20) and Qatar’s Ismail Doudai Abakar (49.82) rounded out the field.
Nathaniel had entered the final as one of Nigeria’s brightest hopes, having won his semifinal in 47.47 seconds and becoming the first Nigerian man to reach the event’s final at the World Championships since Henry Amike in 1987. Running from lane six, he made a slow start but showed remarkable resilience to surge back into contention in the closing stages.
Although the medal eluded him, Nathaniel’s fourth-place finish represents a historic breakthrough for Nigerian athletics. His new national record underlines his potential to challenge the global hierarchy in the years ahead and provides a strong platform for future competitions.
He also contributed to Nigeria’s standout performances in Tokyo, following Tobi Amusan’s silver medal in the women’s 100 metres hurdles earlier in the week. For Nathaniel, the result is both a moment of pride and a stepping stone as he looks to cement his name among the best hurdlers in the world.
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