Ofili, Onwuzurike, Ogazi top list of Nigerian athletes projected to make Diamond League debut in 2025

The 2024 Wanda Diamond League has ended with only one bonafide Nigerian making it all the way to the final out of the two that actually participated n what has become athletics’ premier one day meeting series.

Shot Putter, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi made it to his first final and made history as the second Nigerian man to do so albeit he, like Tosin Oke did before him, was not expected to ruffle any feathers, expectedly those of the 23m and 22m throwers who were up against him.

Tobi Amusan shut down her season after failing to make it to the final of the Olympics in Paris and thus could not increase her points haul to not only enable her run in her fourth straight final but also to defend her historic title for the third time with a chance to become only the second woman in the history of the 100m hurdles to win four times in a row.

Since the Diamond League replaced the old Golden League as athletics’ elite, one day meetings, Blessing Okagbare was, for a long time, the leading Nigerian performer but the beautiful, Sapele-born sprinter never made it to the podium as the winner, either in the 100m, 200m or the long jump.

Amusan came in 2021 to make history as the first Nigerian in the Diamond League era to win a Diamond League discipline.

Since then, the 27 year old has been the most prominent Nigerian in the event with long jumper, Ese Brume dashing in and out of the meetings until last year when she leapt into the final and only missed the title on countback.

This year, Brume was thrice listed to perform and thrice she did not make it to the venue, citing visa issues at least on one occasion.

With old father time gradually knocking on the door of the duo of Amusan and Brume, Nigerians are looking forward to the next set of athletes who will join the Diamond League train.

To some, athletes like Favour Ofili and Udodi Onwuzurike should have joined the train this year and many could not explain why it was not so.

While some may have put it down to their managers, others feel the Olympics changed the plans of Ofili for instance while Onwuzurike’s inability to debut in 2024 was put down to his injury concern all through the season.

Both were phenomenal in the 2023 season with Ofili running 22.11 as early as March to end the year as the 11th fastest while Onwuzurike ran inside 20 seconds three times with a 19.76 lifetime best as the icing on the cake for the 21 year old.

For Samuel Ogazi, 2024 has been his breakout year and a lot of athletics experts have advised he should break his scholarship at the University of Alabama and go professiona albeit NCAA rules now allow athletes to run in the international circuit, especially after a very hectic collegiate season.

With others like Ruth Usoro, Rosemary Chukwuma, Favour Ashe, Godson Oghenebrume, Kanyinsola Ajayi and even Prestina Ochonogor potentially capable of joining the train, Nigeria could be aiming to re-enact the incredible feats the quartet of Falilat Ogunkoya, Seun Ogunkoya, Charity Opara and Glory Alozie achieved in the international circuit in 1998, especially in the Golden League, the precursor of today’s Diamond League.

Falilat Ogunkoya was ranked number one in the 400m that year while Opara was ranked number two and made worldwide headline when she ran 49.29 at the Golden Gala in Rome, Italy.

Seun made headlines when he defeated the great Namibian Frankie Fredericks who was beaten to the 1996 Olympic Games 100m and 200m titles by two world records while Alozie won 17 of 18 races in the circuit and only lost in the Grand Prix final in Moscow that year in what was a winner-takes-all final.