Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel moved a step closer to achieving his objective, as he stormed into men’s 400m hurdles final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Afrosport reports.
The 22-year-old dominated the field to win his semifinal at the Japan National Stadium on Wednesday, clocking a time of 47.47 seconds – the fastest across the three semi-finals.
He finished ahead of Qatar’s Ismail Doudai Abakar, who came second with a personal best of 47.6s, while American Caleb Dean crossed the line in third place in 47.85s.
Jamaica’s Malik James-King was fourth, Brazil’s Matheus Lima finished fifth, Kenyan Wiseman Were Mukhobe sixth, Sweden’s Oskar Edlund seventh, and Spain’s Jesús David Delgado ended the race eighth.
His flawless performance ensured he etched his name in the history books, becoming the first Nigerian to qualify for the men’s 400m hurdles at Worlds since Henry Amike at the 1987 World Championships in Rome.
Nathaniel, who has been placed in lane 6, will be looking to secure his first medal in his maiden appearance at the World Athletics Championships when the final gets underway on Friday, 19 September at 1:15 p.m. Nigerian Time.
However, he will face stern competition from the quartet of Karsten Warholm (Norway), Rai Benjamin (United States), Alison dos Santos (Brazil), and Abderrahman Samba (Qatar) – the top four-ranked athletes in the discipline.
