Ofili and Ezekiel poised to make Diamond League history in Eugene
Nigerian sprint stars Favour Ofili and Nathaniel Ezekiel are set to light up Hayward Field this Saturday as they make their highly anticipated Diamond League debuts at the ninth stop of the 2025 season. More than just first appearances, these races carry the weight of history: no Nigerian athlete has ever won a Diamond League event on debut. That could change this weekend.
Ofili, 22, arrives in Eugene fresh off a blistering 10.87s personal best in Texas, the third-fastest time ever by a Nigerian woman. She becomes only the third Nigerian woman to compete in a Diamond League sprint, following in the footsteps of Blessing Okagbare and Gloria Asumnu.
But her debut is anything but ceremonial. The women’s 100m field is stacked with global titans: reigning Olympic champion Julien Alfred (10.75s), world champion Sha’Carri Richardson, Grand Slam Track winner Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (10.73s), African record holder Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith, and British star Dina Asher-Smith. Ofili, who famously raced Alfred at this very track in the 2022 NCAA final, is no stranger to high-stakes showdowns.
Now, she returns to Hayward Field not as a collegiate standout, but as a professional sprinter with a point to prove—and history to chase.
In the men’s 400m hurdles, Nathaniel Ezekiel is also on the brink of a breakthrough. The 22-year-old NCAA champion will become the first Nigerian ever to compete in the event at a Diamond League meet.
His 47.49s lifetime best, set en route to his NCAA title, ranks him fifth in the world this year and shattered his own national record. Ezekiel’s rise has been meteoric: he’s a nine-time All-American, the 2025 NCAA Men’s Track Athlete of the Year, and a semifinalist for The Bowerman Award.
In Eugene, he’ll face a field that includes Olympic silver medalist Rai Benjamin (46.17), world bronze medalist Alison dos Santos (46.29), and Qatari star Abderrahman Samba (46.98)—three of the five fastest men in history. But Ezekiel, calm and composed, has shown he thrives under pressure. His Diamond League debut is not just a test—it’s a statement.
While Nigerian legends like Okagbare (12 wins) and Tobi Amusan (9+ wins) have left their mark on the Diamond League, none have ever won on debut.
Okagbare was fourth on her debut (100m) on July 3, 2010 incidentally in Eugene where, a few weeks earlier, she scorched to a 100m/Long Jump win in the NCAA Championships while Amusan fared a bit better, finishing third on May 31, 2018 at the Golden Gala in Rome, Italy where she made her debut.
Ofili and Ezekiel now stand at the edge of that milestone.
