By: Ganiyu Olayinka
Nigeria’s Samuel Ogazi has done it again. The 20-year-old quarter-miler produced a stunning 43.95 seconds at the SEC Track and Field Championships in Auburn, Alabama, to set a new national record and claim a joint world-leading time in the men’s 400m.
The run makes Ogazi the first Nigerian ever to break the 43-second barrier in the event. American Jonathan Simms is the only other athlete to have posted the similar time this season; 43.02 seconds.
It is the second national record Ogazi has set in as many weeks. Just a fortnight ago, he ran 44.02 seconds to erase Innocent Egbunike’s 44.17 mark, a record that had stood for 39 years. On Saturday, the Kaduna-born sprinter went even faster, signalling that he is ready to compete at the very highest level.
The University of Alabama student began the season with a 44.57-second run in March and has improved steadily since, cementing his place among the world’s elite sub-44-second runners in a matter of months.
Attention now turns to the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games in July, where Ogazi is expected to compete against some of the season’s top performers, including Canada’s Christopher Morales Williams (44.30 secs), South Africa’s Lythe Pillay (44.32 secs) and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (44.37 secs). On current form, the young Nigerian will head into that competition as one of the favourites.
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