Teen sprint sensation, Samuel Ogazi, delivered the race of his life on Saturday, rewriting Nigeria’s athletics history with a blistering 44.02 seconds in the men’s 400 metres at the Torrin Lawrence Memorial in Athens.
Samuel Ogazi, 19, erased a record that had stood for nearly four decades, bettering the 44.17s mark set by Innocent Egbunike in 1987. It also marked a major personal best, shaving time off his previous 44.41s.
Ogazi finished second in the race by a razor-thin 0.005 seconds, yet his time stole the spotlight and now jointly tops the world rankings this season. The run lifted him to sixth on Africa’s all-time list and strengthened his growing reputation as one of the continent’s most exciting quarter-milers.
The performance also rewrote the record books at the University of Alabama and ranks as the sixth fastest time in collegiate history.
Nigeria now holds the world-leading marks in both the men’s and women’s 400m this season after Ella Onojuvwevwo clocked 49.59s earlier this year.
Ogazi’s surge has been building. He reached the final of the 400m at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and claimed national titles in 2025 under the banners of the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference.
He has impressed in relays and sprint doubles, including a 200m win earlier this season. His latest run suggests the long-awaited sub-44 second barrier for a Nigerian man is now within reach.
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