By VICTOR OKOYE

Ezekiel Nathaniel of Team Nigeria narrowly missed a historic bronze medal at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo following a dramatic reversal.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nathaniel initially placed fourth in the men’s 400m hurdles final, setting a new national record of 47.11 seconds.

His fortunes changed briefly when American Rai Benjamin, who won in 46.52 seconds, was disqualified. Nathaniel was promoted to third place.

As a result, Brazil’s Alson Dos Santos moved from second to first, while Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba was upgraded to silver.

However, the celebration was short-lived.

The U.S. Track and Field Federation (USATF) appealed Benjamin’s disqualification. The appeal was upheld by the meet referee.

Benjamin was reinstated as champion, with Dos Santos returning to second and Samba to third. Nathaniel was pushed back to fourth.

Benjamin was initially disqualified for hitting the final hurdle in Lane 6, which displaced Nathaniel’s last hurdle.

In spite of missing the podium, Nathaniel broke his own national record of 47.31 seconds, set in August.

He also became the second Nigerian to reach the 400m hurdles final at the World Championships, after Henry Amike in 1987.

Like Amike, Nathaniel also finished fourth.

Nathaniel had previously fallen short at the 2022 Oregon and 2023 Budapest editions, where he exited in the semi-finals.

His 2025 season includes winning the NCAA title, breaking two national records, and consistently running low 47-second times.

NAN reports that Team Nigeria concluded the Tokyo World Athletics Championships with one medal, won by Tobi Amusan.

This marks an improvement from the 2023 Budapest Championships, where Nigeria failed to win any medal. (NAN)