In a blistering performance, Nigerian quarter-miler Chidi Okezie stamped his authority as a Paris 2024 Olympic medal contender by clocking an astonishing 44.97 seconds to win the men’s 400m at the Edmonton Athletics Invitational in Canada.
Okezie’s remarkable new personal best saw the 30-year-old achieve a long-standing goal by breaking the vaunted 45-second barrier for the first time in his career.
His winning time also comfortably dipped under the 45-second Olympic qualifying standard for the event.
Leaving his competitors trailing, Okezie surged across the line well clear of American Wil London III who clocked 45.55 seconds in second place. DaeQwan Butler took third, also timed at 45.55s as the Nigerian’s blistering pace proved unmatched.
The breakthrough performance underlines Okezie’s emergence as a force on the global quarter-mile scene. He had flirted with the 45-second mark over the past two years, consistently dipping into the low 45s, but struggled to breach that iconic threshold until his dominant Edmonton showing.
It comes on the heels of Okezie’s stunning performance at the All-African Games in Ghana, where he ran a PB of 45.06 seconds in the men’s 400m final. This time was the fastest by a Nigerian athlete in nine years.
With the Olympic qualifying time now secured with a month to Paris, Okezie can fully focus his preparations on challenging for a medal at next year’s Summer Games. His performance will raise hopes of Nigerian athletics fans seeking a first men’s 400m Olympic medal since the celebrated ‘Nigerian Wonders’ of the 1990s.
Having failed to qualify for last year’s World Championships in Eugene, Okezie has rebounded spectacularly to join the exclusive sub-45 second club. He’ll now look to carry this new-found confidence and momentum through the year ahead on the road to Paris.
