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Chidi Okezie became Nigeria's first African Games 400m champion since the legendary Innocent Egbunike did it in 1987.
Chidi Okezie produced his best career performance in the men's 400m final at the African Games in Ghana, storming to Nigeria's first gold medal in 37 years.
After winning four bronze medals at the continental stage dating back to Durban in 2016 at the African Athletics Championships, the 30-year-old clocked a stunning Personal Best (PB) of 45.06s to defeat one of the world's fastest men in the event in Zambia's Muzala Samukonga, who settled for the silver medal in 45.37s.
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Okezie's iconic victory meant he became the first Nigerian man to win the African Games men's 400m title since the legendary Innocent Egbunike in 1987, and it is the fastest time by a Nigerian athlete in nine years.
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07:38 - 21.03.2024
African Games: Tobi Amusan's historic Gold, Okezie's triumph in 37years and Ghana losing 'relay jollof war' highlights performances on Day 3
Recap of Day 3 performances of Nigerian athletes at the African Games led by the historic performances of Tobi Amusan and Chidi Okezie.
Egbunike clocked a Games Record of 44.23s to win the title 37years ago, and ever since Nigeria, has only won four silver medals from the trio of the late Sunday Bada (1991 and 1995), Clement Chukwu (1999), and Tobi Ogunmola (2011).
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Also, Okezie's blazing winning time is a massive drop from his former PB of 45.60s set in 2021, although he came close to his PB in the semis when he ran a 45.63s to qualify as the second fastest overall.
He is now just 0.05s shy of the Paris Olympic standard of 45.00s, and considering this is just his first outdoor race of the season, he'll be gunning to surpass the mark and qualify for his first individual Olympics.
![[WATCH] Nigerian athlete chase down her opponent turning Silver into GOLD in the mixed 4x400m Relay final](https://sportal365images.com/process/smp-images-production/ringier.africa/20032024/e9c64ee7-07e7-4d08-9dfe-4c73f8ee4fc4.png?operations=fit(:350))
16:51 - 20.03.2024
[WATCH] Nigerian athlete chase down her opponent turning Silver into GOLD in the mixed 4x400m Relay final
With 30m to go trailing Botswana, Nigeria's Omolara Ogunmakinju did the unbelievable by chasing down her opponent and winning the Gold medal. This is arguably one of the greatest relay races in history.
Okezie is expected to be part of the 4x400m relay squad aiming for another gold medal to cap off an outstanding outing at the African Games in Ghana.
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