Nathaniel Ezekiel underlined his status as Nigeria’s next big athletics star on Saturday by smashing his own national record in the men’s 400m hurdles at the Silesia Diamond League.
Tobi Amusan also continued her steady march back to top form in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Ezekiel rewrites Nigerian record books
Ezekiel stormed to a time of 47.31s in Poland, lowering the Nigerian 400m hurdles record for the fifth time this season. His performance is now the fifth-fastest in the world this year.
The 22-year-old finished second behind Olympic champion Karsten Warholm, who ran 46.28s – a world lead, Diamond League record, and meeting record.
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The former Baylor University standout has been on a remarkable run in 2025. He dominated the American collegiate circuit, going unbeaten outdoors and clinching the NCAA title with 47.49s, the third-fastest time in collegiate history. That performance earned him a place as a finalist for the prestigious Bowerman Award, making him the first Baylor athlete ever to reach that stage and only the third Nigerian in history to be named a finalist.
Earlier this summer, Ezekiel also made an impressive professional debut at the Eugene Diamond League, where he ran 47.88s to claim third place against world champions Alison Dos Santos and Rai Benjamin.
Amusan’s steady return to form
World record holder Tobi Amusan clocked 12.25s to finish third in the women’s 100m hurdles in Silesia. America’s Masai Russell, the Olympic champion, won the race in a Diamond League record of 12.19s, ahead of fellow American Tonea Marshall, who ran a personal best of 12.24s.
There were also personal bests for Jamaica’s reigning world champion Danielle Williams (12.31s) and American Alia Armstrong (12.32s), who placed fourth and fifth respectively.
Amusan opened her 2025 season with a modest 12.74s in Xiamen but has improved with every outing. She ran 12.66s in Doha, 12.53s in Atlanta, 12.45s in Rabat and Ostrava, and stormed to a season’s best of 12.24s in Paris. She also clocked 12.38s at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene before winning her fifth national title at the Nigerian Championships in Lagos with 12.57s.
Ofili, Enekwechi impress
It was not only Ezekiel and Amusan who flew Nigeria’s flag in Silesia. Favour Ofili – whose reported nationality switch to Turkey is yet to be confirmed – ran 22.25s to finish third in the women’s 200m behind Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson (22.17s) and USA’s Brittany Brown (22.31s).
In the men’s shot put, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi threw 21.56m to place seventh in a loaded field.
With the Diamond League Final in Zurich (August 27–28) approaching, Amusan – a three-time champion – currently leads Nigeria’s charge for qualification, ranked second in the women’s 100m hurdles with 23 points. Ezekiel is ninth in the men’s 400m hurdles with 14 points, while Enekwechi sits seventh in the men’s shot put with 11 points. Ofili is 13th in the women’s 200m with six points.
Amusan will return to action at the Lausanne Diamond League on August 20, facing a stacked field that includes Russell, Jamaicans Ackera Nugent and Megan Tapper, former world record holder Kendra Harrison, fellow American Alaysha Johnson, Netherlands’ Nadine Visser, and Switzerland’s Dijati Kambundji.
Enekwechi and Ezekiel are also set to compete in Lausanne as they fine-tune preparations for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo next month, where all three will represent Nigeria. Ofili, meanwhile, awaits the conclusion of her nationality switch ahead of a potential debut for Turkey at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
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