Ezekiel Nathaniel becomes the first Nigerian to win the gold medal in the men’s 400 meters hurdles at the Commonwealth Games (CWG).
The 23-year-old clocked 48.47 seconds in the event final at the Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, on Friday to achieve the feat.
The closest a Nigerian had previously gone to winning the men’s 400m hurdles at the CWG was in 1966 when Kingsley Agbabokha won a silver medal. The event was referred to by its antiquated name of 440 yards hurdles back then.
Nathaniel’s victory flipped the disappointing sixth-place finish he had four years ago.
He finished the race way ahead of the chasing pack and refused to buckle under the immense pressure of being the pre-event favourite. Jake Minshull of England took silver while Jamaica’s Assnie Wilson got the bronze medal.
Nathaniel’s gold is Nigeria’s first on the track in Glasgow after favourites like Tobi Amusan and Kayinsola Ajayi both ended with bronze medals in their respective events.
A few minutes after Nathaniel’s triumph, Udodi Onwuzurike won Nigeria’s first CWG medal in the men’s 200m in 32 years.
The 23-year-old clocked a season’s best 20.09 seconds after surging past Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor to snatch a silver medal on the finish line in the event final. South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile was way ahead of the duo to clinch the gold medal.
Onwuzurike’s second place is Nigeria’s best finish in the men’s 200m at the CWG. David Ejoke and Daniel Effiong both managed bronze medals in 1996 and 1994, respectively.
Onwuzurike was the world U-20 champion in 2021, beating Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, but a series of injuries stalled the development of the US-raised Nigerian sprinter.
The latest haul takes Nigeria’s tally at the 2026 CGW to 18 — nine gold medals, six silver and three bronze.
