Athletics: Ogazi attributes season’s consistency to God

Nigeria’s male quarter-miler, Samuel Ogazi, believes God has been the sole reason behind his consistency in athletics in the 2024 season.

Ogazi in a recent interview noted that his remarkable journey began on the tracks of Kaduna, where he was discovered at the 2019 Kaduna School Athletics Championships.

He credits his continuous trust in God and hard work as instrumental to his exceptional performance this season.

“Firstly, it’s all God. When I was going to school, I didn’t plan to run as fast as I am running right now. I give thanks to God and credit my coach, Coach Wiley; we have been putting in a lot of work, though we still have more in the tank,” he said in an interview on www.makingofchamps.com.

“The reason for my consistency is God. I’ve just been achieving personal records (PRs). People often say, ‘You’re burnt out,’ yet I go out and run a 45. I kept trusting in God and doing my thing. I’m glad I’ve made it this far.”

In 2022, Ogazi ventured into the 400m, making his domestic debut at the Nigerian Championships, where he ran a time of 47.79 seconds and improved his 200m personal best to 21.25 seconds in his heat, ultimately finishing 4th in the final.

At his first outdoor meet, he broke his personal best by over five-tenths of a second, clocking in at 45.35 seconds to place 2nd in the Battle of Bayou Meet. It is noteworthy that Ogazi opened his Olympic campaign with the mixed 4x400m, where he and his teammates narrowly missed out on the final, finishing 9th overall.

Ogazi ended Nigeria’s 16-year drought of male quarter-milers failing to reach the semifinals by achieving a new lifetime best of 44.50 seconds in the heats. In the semifinals, he secured one of the fastest non-automatic spots with a new personal best of 44.41 seconds to qualify for the final, becoming the first Nigerian to achieve this feat since Innocent Egbunike in Seoul in 1988.

Given Ogazi’s success stories, it can be said that Nigeria has finally found a worthy successor to the great Innocent Egbunike after more than three decades.