Ezekiel Nathaniel now holds Nigeria’s top two men’s track performances in history

Ezekiel Nathaniel may have narrowly missed a podium finish at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, but the 22-year-old Nigerian hurdler has etched his name into history with two record-breaking performances in the 400m hurdles this season, making this his breakout season.

The reigning NCAA 400m hurdles champion, who is also in contention to become the first Nigerian to win the prestigious Bowerman award (the highest honor in U.S. collegiate track and field), has now delivered the greatest individual performance by a Nigerian male athlete in history.

Nathaniel first made headlines when he ran 47.31 seconds at the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Diamond League meeting in Chorzow, Poland, earning 1268 points on the World Athletics Scoring Tables (2025 revised edition).

That performance broke the Nigerian performance record and moved him ahead of Divine Oduduru, who previously held the top spot with his 19.73 second sprint in the 200m at the 2019 NCAA Championships (1263 points).

Oduduru had earlier surpassed Olusoji Fasuba, whose 9.85 second African record in the 100m in Doha in 2006 earned him 1259 points.

But Nathaniel wasn’t done. At the World Championships in Tokyo, he shattered his own mark with an astonishing 47.11 second run in the final, scoring 1273 points, now the highest-rated performance ever by a Nigerian man.

These rankings are determined using the World Athletics Scoring Tables, which allow comparisons across different events.

Whether it’s a sprint, hurdle, or field event, the scoring system assigns points based on statistical data, helping to identify the most outstanding performances regardless of discipline.

That’s how Sportsnow.com.ng compiled its list of Nigeria’s top track and field achievements.

Here’s how the top seven performances rank:

Ezekiel Nathaniel: 47.11 in 400m hurdles (1273 points)

Ezekiel Nathaniel: 47.31 in 400m hurdles (1268 points)

Divine Oduduru: 19.73 in 200m (1263 points)

Olusoji Fasuba: 9.85 in 100m (1259 points)

Udodi Onwuzurike: 19.76 in 200m (1258 points)

Divine Oduduru: 9.85 in 100m (1255 points)

Chukwuebuka Enekwechi: 22.10 in Shot Put (1247 points)

Francis Obikwelu: 19.84 in 200m (1245 points)