By Monica Iheakam
National Record holder in the men’s 400m hurdles, Nathaniel Ezekiel has qualified for the World Athletics Championships to be held later this year in Budapest.
Ezekiel clocked a time of 48.52s, his best of the season and well under the World Championships automatic qualification standard of 48.70s to finish 2nd at the Big 12 Championships at the John Jacobs Track and Field Complex in Norman, Oklahoma.
He is the second Nigerian man behind Udodi Onwuzuruike to qualify for the championship billed for Budapest, Hungary from August 19-27 this year.
The World Athletics Championships is the world’s biggest track and field championship, where the best athletes converge to compete for the honour of the world title or medals on the biggest stage of all.
World Champion Tobi Amusan enjoys a wild card entry for the global showpiece thanks to her world record-breaking 12.06 seconds in Oregon USA.
Ese Brume is the African Record (AR) holder in the women’s long jump and qualified at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where she won the Commonwealth title with a distance of 7.00m.
Ruth Usoro exceeded the long jump qualifying standard of 6.85m by winning the event with a Personal Best (PB) distance of 6.87m at the Texas Tech Corky Classic last month.
Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, Sade Olatoye, and Chioma Onyekwere are currently guaranteed to don Nigeria’s colours in the Shot Put, Hammer Throw, and Discus Throw events respectively.
The sprint trios of Grace Nwokocha, Rosemary Chukwuma and Favour Ofili have also secured qualification to compete in Budapest.
Nwokocha ran 10.99 seconds in Birmingham while Chukwuma ran 11.02 seconds which are both inside the 11.08 qualification standard set for the women’s 100m event. Ofili’s 22.51 seconds performance in the 200m which fetched her silver medal in the women’s 200m at the Commonwealth Games