Okezie, Nwachukwu seeking to rewrite Nigeria’s 400m history at African Games

The duo of Chidi Okezie and Dubem Nwachukwu were impressive in their 400m semifinal heats, running inside 46 seconds, 45.63 and 45.89 respectively to qualify for Wednesday’s final.

Okezie and Nwachukwu are seeking to return Nigeria to the podium as African Games champion, 37 years after Innocent Egbunike did in Nairobi, Kenya to become
the only Nigerian winner of the event.

That was the only time in 12 editions of the Games that Nigeria has made it to the podium as African Games champion and Egbunike did it in style, setting 44.23 Games record on his way to winning the gold.

Okezie and Nwachukwu will however need to be at their best and probably run inside 45 seconds to stand any chance of beating Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga, the 2022 African Championships and Commonwealth Games 400m champion who holds a 43.91 lifetime best in the event.

In the semifinals, Samukonga ran the fastest qualifying time (45.51) for Wednesday’s final.

The closest Nigeria have come to winning the 400m gold after Egbunike was the silver medal finishes by Sunday Bada in 1991 and 1995, Clement Chukwu in 1999 and Tobi Ogunmola in 2011.