Nathaniel Ezekiel still in the running for 2025 Bowerman award
African 400m indoor record holder, Nathaniel Ezekiel has retained his place in the latest Bowerman watch list released on Thursday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
The 21 year old is thus in the race for the 2025 Bowerman award meant for the most outstanding male and female athlete in NCAA and NAIA track and field in a year.
The Bowerman Watch List Committee saw who starred and won NCAA titles indoors and thought long and hard about who is favored to do big things outdoors and has accordingly included the Nigerian in the watch list.
Among the men is Nigeria’s Ezekiel who finished runner-up in the 400 meters by 0.01 seconds at the 2025 NCAA DI Indoor Championships.
He turned two laps in 45.44, the same time that he ran in the preliminary round. Just a few weeks before that, Ezekiel made history as the first Nigerian nay African man to break 45 seconds in the history of the 400m indoors.
He ran inside 45 seconds twice and his 44.74 winner at the Big 12 Indoor Championships the fastest in the NCAA across all divisions and second fastest in the world.
The Nigerian specializes in the 400-meter hurdles, an event in which he finished third at the 2024 NCAA DI Outdoor Championships.
No Nigerian, man or woman has ever won the award and Ezekiel will have to win the outdoor 400m hurdles title and set records to stand a chance.
