Nigeria’s Samuel Ogazi has received official confirmation from global track and field governing body, World Athletics, that he is now placed fourth in the men’s 400m all-time achiever’s list, following his stunning 43.38 seconds finish last weekend.
Sports247 reports that Ogazi pulled off the feat on the third day of USA’s National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Championships in Eugene, where the Olympic Games finalist retained his title in an astonishing burst to the line.
Not only did the 20-year-old Alabama University sprinter hit a world-leading performance on the evening, he also improved his own Nigerian record and broke the US collegiate mark o 43.61 that was set by 2022 world champion, Michael Norman in 2018.
Further information from NCAA’s record keepers indicated that Ogazi is now fourth in the men’s 400m global charts behind world record-holder Wayde van Niekerk as well as American legends, Michael Johnson and Butch Reynolds.
Dramatically, another Nigerian athlete also made headlines at the same NCAA event, as Israel Okon was part of the men’s 200m event that ended with an equally stunning world-leading, national and US collegiate record.
However, Okon, who competed in the colours of Auburn University could only end up in second spot with a time of 19.99, as Cayman Islands’ Jaiden Reid ran under 20 seconds for the first time with 19.63 (1.5m/s) to take the title for LSU.
Incidentally, Reid had earlier clocked a wind-aided 9.82 (2.2m/s) to finish second in a 100m final won by Nigeria’s Kanyinsola Ajayi, who ran a mouth-gaping 9.72 to complete an NCAA title double for Auburn after his indoor 60m win in March.
