Samuel Ogazi shines again with another age-18 World Best as Nathaniel finishes third at NCAA Championship finals

Samuel Ogazi is a student at the University of Alabama

Samuel Ogazi shines again with another age-18 World Best as Nathaniel finishes third at NCAA Championship finals

Funmilayo Fameso 17:05 - 08.06.2024

Nigeria's best 400m and 400mH talents Samuel Ogazi and Ezekiel Nathaniel ended their NCAA campaigns this season with top 3 finishes.

University of Alabama freshman Samuel Ogazi is steadily climbing the ladder to be a world-beater in a few years after clocking another age-18 World Best in the 400m final at the NCAA Championships.

Ogazi made pre-race favourite Christopher Morales Williams dig deep in the last 30m as the Canadian rising star edged him at the finish line in 44.47s.

Samuel Ogazi in action for University of Alabama

The talented Nigerian clocked a new lifetime and age-18 world best of 44.52s, while University of Florida's JeVaughn Powell was third in 44.54s.

By doing this, Ogazi has lowered his best every time he's competed in the past month, and he'll be hoping he can take the same form to the Nigerian Olympic trials and Paris Games, where he'll be gunning to at least make the final.

Meanwhile, Ezekiel Nathaniel also ensured he finished on the top 3 podium in the men's 400mH final, stopping the clock at 48.88s.

Ezekiel Nathaniel is a standout-student athlete for Baylor University

An extra-inspired Caleb Dean from Texas Tech won the race in an exceptional Personal Best of 47.23s - the second-fastest time in NCAA history and the sixth-fastest time by an American ever, while Alabama's Chris Robinson was second in 47.98s.

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