Ezekiel Nathaniel made history on Friday by becoming the first Nigerian to win the men’s 400m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games after a brilliant performance in Glasgow, Scotland.
The 23-year-old crossed the finish line in 48.47 seconds at Scotstoun Stadium to claim the gold medal and give Nigeria its first athletics gold of the 2026 Games.
Nathaniel’s victory is a landmark achievement for Nigerian athletics. Before his triumph, the country’s best result in the event was a silver medal won by Kingsley Agbabokha at the 1966 Commonwealth Games, when the race was contested over 440 yards.
The gold medal also completed an impressive turnaround for Nathaniel, who finished sixth in the same event at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
England’s Jake Minshull claimed the silver medal, while Jamaica’s Assnie Wilson finished third to take bronze.
Moments after Nathaniel’s success, Nigeria celebrated another podium finish as Udodi Onwuzurike won silver in the men’s 200m final.
The 23-year-old clocked a season’s best time of 20.09 seconds to finish second behind South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile, who won the gold medal. Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor settled for bronze after being overtaken by Onwuzurike in the closing stages of the race.
The silver medal is Nigeria’s best-ever result in the men’s 200m at the Commonwealth Games, surpassing the previous bronze-medal finishes by Daniel Effiong in 1994 and David Ejoke in 1998.
Onwuzurike, the 2021 World Under-20 champion, has struggled with injuries in recent years but returned to the podium with an outstanding performance.
The two medals took Nigeria’s tally at the 2026 Commonwealth Games to 18 medals—nine gold, six silver and three bronze.
