Ezekiel Nathaniel of Nigeria finished fourth in the men’s 400m hurdles final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Friday, missing out on a medal. Nathaniel clocked a time of 47.11 seconds at the Tokyo National Stadium.
He was surpassed by the USA’s Rai Benjamin, Brazil’s Allison dos Santos, and Qatar’s Ismail Doudai Abakar, who claimed gold, silver, and bronze, respectively.
Despite missing the podium, Nathaniel set a new national record, improving on his previous best of 47.31 seconds, which he achieved on August 16 in Poland.
Starting in lane 6, the 22-year-old experienced a slow start but made a strong effort in the final stretch to end Nigeria’s 38-year wait for representation in the men’s 400m hurdles final, following two consecutive semifinal disappointments at the World Championships.
The race concluded dramatically when gold medalist Benjamin was accused of interfering with a competitor by knocking a hurdle into their path.
This initially promoted Nathaniel to the bronze medal position, but after a successful appeal by the American team, the result was overturned, returning Nathaniel to fourth place.