Ogazi Breaks African Indoor 400m Record, Onojuvwevwo Runs Historic 50.96 To Win at SEC Championships
University of Alabama junior Samuel Ogazi delivered a stunning performance at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Bryan-College Station, Texas, on Saturday, racing to 44.72 seconds to set a new African indoor 400m record and claim the men’s title.
The 19-year-old Nigerian sprinter triumphed in a head-to-head battle against NCAA leader Jonathan Simms, who had previously clocked 44.62 seconds before the championships. There was no contest at the finish, as Simms came in a distant second with 45.23.
Ogazi’s run erased the African record of 44.74 set by compatriot Nathaniel Ezekiel in Lubbock, Texas, in March 2025. The Paris Olympic 400m finalist crossed the first 200m in 20.80 and the second in 23.93.
With this feat, Ogazi also became the second African to break 45 seconds twice indoors over the 400m, following Ezekiel. Only last month, he ran 44.85 for his first sub-45 seconds performance.
The African U18 200m/400m champion in 2023 will now be seeking to add the NCAA indoor title next month in Arkansas to his growing résumé, having already won the outdoor crown last year.
In the women’s 400m, Ella Onojuvwevwo etched her name into history by becoming only the second African woman ever to dip under 51 seconds indoors.
The 20-year-old Nigerian clocked 50.96 seconds, joining Charity Opara, who set the African record of 50.73 in Stuttgart, Germany, 28 years ago. Onojuvwevwo crossed the first 200m in 23.67 and ran 27.30 in the final 200m to finish with her historic performance.
She has now surpassed what her more illustrious compatriots, Falilat Ogunkoya and Fatimah Yusuf, could not achieve indoors.
The Delta State-born athlete will be keen to make history outdoors as the fourth Nigerian woman to break 50 seconds in the 400m.
Ogunkoya holds the African outdoor record at 49.10, set on her way to winning the bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
Her victory also marked redemption, as she claimed her first SEC title after being disqualified in the final in 2025.
