Nigeria’s name was held to the pinnacle by Oluwatobiloba “Tobi” Amusan, who shocked the world in 2022 with her splendid 12.12 seconds in the 100m hurdles. It wasn’t a random record. Amusan had just beaten Kendra Harrison’s 2016 record with her semi-final performance. She now has another Nigerian rising to help her make a name for their country. The 21-year-old Nigerian star Nathaniel Ezekiel is the Big 12’s best in both the 400m sprint and the 400m hurdles. The Baylor standout has already cemented his name by rewriting records for Nigeria twice this season. So much so that an Olympic medalist and world champ, Fred Kerley, cheered him on.

June 11th was a historic day for Nigeria at the NCAA Track and Field Championships. The audience was on the edge of their seats because of Nathaniel Ezekiel, who had already made history before. As soon as the gunshot resonated through the stadium, he exploded out of the box and was sprinting for first place. He clocked a magnificent 47.86 seconds and made the fastest semifinal time in NCAA history, and the first-ever sub-48 in an NCAA semifinal. The Baylor senior now holds the 7th, 8th, and 9th fastest 400m hurdles times in NCAA history, clocking 47.90, 47.89, and now 47.86, all in the same season. 

Travis Miller shared on X, “Nathaniel Ezekiel 47.49! #NCAATF.Yet another 400 mH PB and 🇳🇬national record which moves him up to 3rd in collegiate history!” Olympian Fred Kerley cheered for the 21-year-old and said, “He went off this whole year in the 400 m.” 

The young record-breaking sprinter is edging closer to the biggest dream of winning the finals and then perhaps an outdoor title. But before that, let’s see what he revealed about his mindset for the future. 

Nathaniel Ezekiel’s plans for greatness after Fred Kerley show solidarity

As per the June 9th publication of the Waco Tribune Herald, Ezekiel said,  “Like I said, I’m just going to go out there, do the best that I can do, just like the indoor season, and just have fun with it, instead of thinking, ‘I have to win, I have to do this, I have to do that.’ … I’m going out there to do the best that I can do.”

His mentality worked in his favour because he just made history. Ezekiel brought home the prize, the first National Champion for Baylor in the 400 m since Bayano Kamani in 2001 and only the third Baylor to win the event. While speaking to the Youth Runner Magazine after his victory, he spoke about his mindset going into the semifinals. Ezekiel said, “Semifinals can be considered like finals, so that’s why I had to go all out.”

As for the finals, he said, “The finals?  I will see what I can get to.” “I will not put any pressure on myself. Cause literally, I’ll just do what I have been doing the whole season. Just compete. Just follow my pattern and what I’ve been doing. And I don’t think there will be any difference.”  Do you think he’s going to break world records as well in the NCAA outdoors?