Rave of the moment, Nathaniel Ezekiel, yesterday, became the first Nigerian man to qualify for the final of the 400m hurdles since Henry Amike achieved the feat 38 years ago, in Rome, Italy.
Another rising star, former NCAA 200m champion and 2021 World U-20 champion, Udodi Onwuzurike, will today, aim to become the fifth Nigerian man to run in the final of the event, when he lines up against Noah Lyles of the United States, Henrik Larsson (Sweden), Andre De Grasse (Canada) and Adrian Kerr of Jamaica in the semifinal at the ongoing 20th World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
The 22-year-old Ezekiel, who is also the reigning NCAA champion, ran 47.47 seconds to win the second of the three semifinal races yesterday in Tokyo.
The Nigerian record holder in the event will now set his sights on becoming the first Nigerian, and fifth African, to make it to the podium at the World Championships.
If Ezekiel does so on Friday, he will be following in the footsteps of Zambia’s Samuel Matete, who won gold in 1991 and silver in 1993 and 1995; South African duo of Llewellyn Herbert, who won silver in 1997, and L.J. van Zyl, who claimed bronze in 2011; as well as Kenya’s Nicholas Bett (now late), who won gold in 2015.
Henry Amike ran 48.63 seconds to place sixth in the event at the second edition of the World Athletics Championships in Rome, Italy, in 1987. He had earlier set a new Nigerian record of 48.50 seconds in the semifinal.
Today, Onwuzurike will also compete against Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain, Tapiwanashe Makarawu of Zimbabwe and Sinesipho Dambile of South Africa.
The last Nigerian to reach the final in 200m was Uchenna Emedolu, who placed eighth at the Paris 2003 edition of the World Championships.
Onwuzurike, yesterday, qualified for the semifinal of the half-lap event in Tokyo, running
20.27 seconds to place second behind USA’s Kenneth Bednarek (19.98) in the third of six first-round heats.
South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile secured the third automatic qualifying spot after returning the same time as Onwuzurike, while Canada’s Jerome Blake, who ran 19.95 seconds at the Canadian Championships last month, could only place fifth in 20.43 seconds.
He has now qualified for his second straight 200m semifinal after making his debut at the Championships in 2022.
The 22-year-old Onwuzurike holds a lifetime best of 19.76 seconds, which he ran en route to winning the NCAA 200m gold, and a season’s best of 20.17 seconds.
To secure a final ticket today, Onwuzurike, a graduate of Stanford University, may need to break 20 seconds for the fourth time in his career.
The 200m final will be held tomorrow.
