Nathaniel Ezekiel joins exclusive Club of Naija track and field pacesetters

It is longer news that Nathaniel Ezekiel ran an incredible 47.90 to break the 48.00 Nigerian 400m hurdles record he set last year.

In the first five months of the year, the 21-year-old has broken barriers hitherto considered impossible to break by Nigerian track and field stars.

Indoors he made history as the Nigerian nay African man to run inside 45 seconds in the 400m flat, ending his incredible season with a 44.70 African record.

He has now broken 48 seconds in the 400m hurdles to become the first, and so far only, Nigerian to also do so.

Nathaniel has now joined an exclusive club of Nigerian athletes who broke barriers that a few others have either broken afterwards or are still the sole owner of the new barrier they have broken.

Today, Sportsnow.com.ng takes a look at some track and field events and reveals who first broke the event’s barrier…

Men
Edose Ibadin (800m):
Ibadin is the first and only Nigerian middle distance runner to break 1:45 in the 800m when he ran 1:44.81 in August 2020. This was after he broke Ado Maude’s 1:45.91 Nigeria record set in September 1992. Ibadin ran 1:45.87 to break the record in June 2017.

Anthony Idiata (High Jump):
The handsome and unassuming Idiata still holds the 2.32m Nigerian record he set in February 2000. That was the only he and any other Nigerian would hit the 2.30m mark albeit he holds the best four marks/heights by a Nigerian in the event (2.32m, 2.28m, 2.27m and 2.26m).

Christian Okoye:(Discus Throw):
Adewale Olukoju remains the best discus thrower Nigeria has ever produced and fittingly holds the national record at 67.80, a mark no Nigerian has neared since it was set in Modesto, California in May 1991 but the Nigerian who first hit the 60m mark is Okoye who threw 61.16m at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California in April 1984.

Olapade Adeniken (100m):
One of the greatest sprinters of his generation and still a reference point in the event, Adeniken made history on April 4, 1992 when he sped past the 10 seconds barrier to finish in 9.97 at an NCAA event in Austin, Texas and become the first Nigerian to break the 10 seconds barrier, something the great Chidi Imoh cold not legally achieve.
Davidson Ezinwa would join Adeniken 14 days later when he ran 9.96 at the Mt Sac Relays in Walnut, California.

Francis Obikwelu (200m):
Obikwelu made history as the first of only three Nigerians to break the 20 seconds barrier in the 200m event when he surprised the watching world at the World Championships in Seville, Spain in 1999, storming to a 19.84 finish to win his semifinal heat and raise hope of a first ever gold medal for Nigeria in the history of the competition. Of course Obiorah did not win the gold but he made a mark that got the whole world talking.

Sunday Uti (400m):
Innocent Egbunike is certainly the most talked about Nigerian 400m runner and holds the national record at 44.17 but Uti remains the first to break the 45 seconds barrier in the event. This he achieved in June 1983 when he ran 44.96 at the NCAA Championships in Houston, Texas to finish second in the final.

Charlton Ehizuelen (Long Jump):
Arguably the greatest long jumper Nigeria has ever produced, but the most talked about is Yusuf Ali, the reigning national record holder at 8.27m. It was Ehizuelen that however broke the 8m barrier that ensured as many as 14 others either hit the mark or surpass it.
Ehizuelen hit the 8m barrier in March of 1975, winning the NCAA indoor title in Bloomington, Indiana.

Ajayi Agbebaku (Triple Jump):
Agbebaku remains in history not only as the first Nigerian, man or woman to win a medal at World Athletics’ flagship event, the World Championships but also the first to hit the 17m mark in the event. This she achieved a year before his historic feat at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
His 17.00m effort in January 1982 in Dallas, Texas is on record as the first 17m jump by a Nigerian in the event. He also holds the national record (17.26m) in the event.

WOMEN
Onyali–10.97
Mary Onyali (100m):
Onyali is unarguably the most decorated Nigerian sprinter and a record setter. She made history in 1993 as the first Nigerian nay African woman to dip inside 11 seconds (10.97) in the 100m event. This she achieved at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
Since she made that history, as many as six other Nigerians have joined sub-11 seconds train.

Favour Ofili (200m):
Paris 2024 Olympics 200m finalist, Ofili may develop into the greatest sprinter on the African continent if she continues on the path she has set for herself. Now 22, Ofili is on record as the first and, so far, only Nigerian to break the 22 seconds barrier in the 200m after running 21.96 in Florida, USA in April 2022.
She is also the first to break the 23 seconds barrier indoors, running 22.71 in February 2022. The time was a national record at the time and has now improved it to 22.11.

Charity Opara (400):
Falilat Ogunkoya is undoubtedly the most decorated and most successful Nigerian 400m runner ever and fittingly holds the national record at 49.10 and two Olympic medals. But Opara is the one record to have first dipped inside 50 seconds in the event, and this she did in Brastislava in 1992 where she ran 49.86.
Two other Nigerians, Ogunkoya and Fatimah Yusuf joined the club three and four years later respectively.

Taiwo Aladefa (100m Hurdles):
Tobi Amusan and Glory Alozie may have taken the high hurdles to Mount Everest but the athlete who cleared the path of sub-13 seconds run is none other than Aladefa whose 12.87 run that fetched her African Games gold in 1995 is on record as the first sub-13 seconds performance.

Chioma Ajunwa (Long Jump):
Chioma made history as not only the first and, so far, only individual Olympic gold medalist Nigeria has ever produced, she is also the first Nigerian nay African woman to hit the 7m mark.
After having her earlier attempt (1992) discarded, the Nigerian returned four years later to leap into Olympic glory with her very first attempt-7.12m!.
That 7.12m mark has given birth to two new amazons, Blessing Okagbare (7.00m) and Ese Brume (7.17m).

Blessing Okagbare (Triple Jump):
Many who followed Okagbare’s story in the mid-2000s would feel she would excel in the long and triple jumps. Not many thought she would be the great sprinter she turned out to be. While she also excelled in the long jump, it is in the triple jump she refused to grow after making history as the first Nigerian to hit the 14m mark. This she did in May 2007 in Lagos, two months before Chinonye Ohadugba hopped, stepped and jumped eight centimetres farther (14.21m) than the 14.13m she did at the Teslim Balogun stadium by Okagbare.

Vivian Chukwuemeka (Shot Put):
When will a Nigerian woman shot putter hit the 18m mark? That is the question agitating the minds of track and field lovers in Nigeria as only Vivian has hit that mark and that was some 23 years ago when she threw 18.20m at the Mt Sac Relays in Walnut, California.