Ogazi, Udo Chase Historic Commonwealth Games 400m Gold, First Medal Since 1994

Samuel Ogazi and Edidiong Udo will carry Nigeria’s hopes of ending a 32-year wait for a Commonwealth Games men’s 400m medal when they line up in Saturday’s final at Scotstoun Stadium.

Nigeria has never won gold in the event, while Sunday Bada remains the country’s only men’s 400m medallist at the Games after his bronze at Victoria 1994.

Now, 32 years later, Nigeria has two finalists in the same race for the first time, with Ogazi drawn in lane five and Udo in lane three.

The stakes are enormous. A medal for either athlete would end Nigeria’s long wait, while gold would make Ogazi or Udo the country’s first Commonwealth Games champion in the event.

Ogazi enters the final as the fastest man in the field, boasting a personal and season’s best of 43.38 seconds. The 20-year-old is also the only finalist to have gone below 43.50 this season and will start among the leading gold medal contenders.

Udo, who has a personal and season’s best of 44.91, gives Nigeria a second opportunity to reach the podium in a final that also features South Africa’s Zakithi Nene, defending champion Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago, Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga, Jamaica’s Zandrion Barnes, Botswana’s Lee Bhekempilo Eppie and Australia’s Thomas Reynolds.

Nigeria’s long wait is set against a rich African history in the event.

South Africa’s Malcolm Spence became the first African athlete to win a Commonwealth Games 400m medal with silver in 1958, while Uganda’s Amos Omolo followed with bronze in 1962.

Kenya’s Charles Asati then became the first African Commonwealth Games 400m champion in 1970 and successfully defended his title four years later in Christchurch. Asati won the 1974 final in 46.04 seconds, ahead of Uganda’s Silver Ayoo and Tanzania’s Claver Kamanya. Nigeria’s Mamman Makama finished eighth in that final in 47.19.

It took Nigeria another 20 years to reach the podium, with Bada winning bronze at Victoria 1994.

Kenya remains the only African nation to have produced two men’s 400m medalists at the same Commonwealth Games, with Samson Kitur winning silver and Simeon Kipkemboi bronze in 1990.

Should Ogazi and Udo both medal in Glasgow, Nigeria would become only the second African nation to produce two men’s 400m medalists at a single edition of the Games.