Ajunwa, Bada, Amusan Did It: Who Will Be Nigeria’s Next History Maker at The World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest?

Who will be the next Nigerian track and field athlete to make history?

That is the intriguing question hanging over the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest, where five Nigerian athletes will chase the opportunity to become the country’s first Ultimate champion, and collect a life-changing $150,000 prize.

Nigeria has already produced athletes who broke new ground on the biggest stages.

In 1996, Chioma Ajunwa became the first Nigerian to win Olympic gold in an individual event when she triumphed in the women’s long jump at the Atlanta Games.

A year later, Sunday Bada wrote his name into the history books by becoming Nigeria’s first World Indoor champion, winning the men’s 400m title in Paris.

Then came Tobi Amusan. In 2022, the Nigerian hurdler became the first Nigerian to win a World Athletics outdoor title when she stormed to 100m hurdles gold in Eugene.

Now, 30 years after Ajunwa’s historic Olympic triumph, another generation of Nigerian athletes has an opportunity to create its own piece of history.

Kanyinsola Ajayi, Amusan, Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike, Ezekiel Nathaniel and Ella Onojuvwevwo will carry Nigeria’s individual hopes in Budapest, with the inaugural Ultimate Championships offering each of them an extraordinary opportunity.

And the stakes are not merely symbolic. Every individual event champion will receive $150,000.

For Ajayi, the youngest of Nigeria’s leading male sprint hopes, the opportunity comes in the 100m.

The 21-year-old has already established himself among the world’s fastest sprinters, having clocked a personal and season’s best of 9.84 seconds, the fourth-fastest time in the world in 2026. But he faces a formidable route to the final.

Ajayi has been drawn in the second semifinal alongside American Olympic medallist Kenneth Bednarek, South Africa’s Akani Simbine and Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, who has also run 9.83 this season. Only the first four finishers will advance.

If Ajayi survives that test, he could find himself in a final featuring some of the biggest names in world sprinting, with $150,000 and a place in Nigerian athletics history at stake.

Amusan, meanwhile, already knows what it means to break barriers. The 100m hurdles star will return to Budapest seeking to add another historic achievement to her remarkable career.

But she faces a familiar rival in Masai Russell. The American Olympic champion has beaten Amusan in all five of their meetings this season and delivered the biggest blow of their rivalry in Zurich last month when she ran 12.09 seconds to break Amusan’s four-year-old world record of 12.12.

Amusan and Russell have been drawn in separate semifinals, meaning they can meet only in the final. For Amusan, Budapest offers an opportunity to settle the score, reclaim supremacy and potentially become Nigeria’s first Ultimate champion.

Ezekiel Nathaniel will arrive in Budapest with a different motivation. The 400m hurdler is looking to erase the disappointment of his Diamond League Final performance in Brussels.

hat result was an unusual blemish on an otherwise impressive period for Nathaniel, who has been among the world’s top four 400m hurdlers over the past two years.

The Nigerian owns a 47.11 personal best and has run 47.37 this season, leaving him ranked third in the Budapest field.

He will face Norwegian superstar Karsten Warholm in his semifinal, but Nathaniel has already demonstrated that he belongs among the world’s elite.

A return to his best could take him into the final and put him in position to challenge for the $150,000 prize.

Onwuzurike also has the pedigree to make a serious push. The Nigerian owns a 19.76 personal best in the 200m, a time that confirms his ability to compete at the highest level.

However, his 20.09 season’s best means he will need a major improvement in Budapest.

His semifinal includes Bednarek and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who own personal bests of 19.57 and 19.46 respectively.

Only four athletes will advance. For Onwuzurike, reaching the final would represent a significant achievement, and potentially open the door to another historic Nigerian triumph.

Then there is Ella Onojuvwevwo. The 21-year-old African indoor 400m record holder faces perhaps the most daunting challenge of Nigeria’s women’s team.

Her semifinal includes reigning world champion Marileidy Paulino, former world champion Salwa Eid Naser, Jamaica’s Nickisha Pryce and England’s Yemi Mary John.

Onojuvwevwo has run 49.47 seconds this season, making her the fourth-fastest athlete in her semifinal. Only four will qualify for the final. But the Nigerian has already shown that she can compete with the best, and another breakthrough performance could take her into a final where anything becomes possible.