In an exciting development for Nigerian athletics, former World 100m hurdles champion Tobi Amusan and 400m hurdler Ezekiel Nathaniel have successfully booked their tickets to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
The journey to qualify for athletics at the Paris 2024 Olympics began last December when World Athletics outlined the criteria, including the specific entry standards that athletes needed to meet between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024.
Tobi Amusan made history as the first Nigerian athlete to secure her place at the Games. She accomplished this remarkable feat during the BAUHAUS-Galan Diamond League event in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 2. Amusan’s astonishing performance saw her clock an impressive time of 12.52 seconds in the 100m hurdles race at the Olympiastadion, surpassing the entry standard of 12.77 seconds. The 26-year-old athlete continued to shine, achieving a personal season’s best of 12.34 seconds at the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Diamond League event in Chorzów, Poland, on July 16.
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On the other hand, Ezekiel Nathaniel, the record holder for the 400m hurdles in Nigeria with a remarkable time of 48.42 seconds, secured his ticket to his very first Olympics by competing at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The 20-year-old athlete clocked an impressive time of 48.47 seconds, comfortably surpassing the entry standard of 48.70 seconds.
While Amusan and Nathaniel celebrate their Olympic qualifications, long jumper Ese Brume narrowly missed securing her spot at the Paris Olympics during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. She fell just two centimeters short with a jump of 6.84 meters, placing her fourth in the final. However, Brume still has a chance to meet the required 6.86m mark to qualify for the global event.
Her next opportunity will come at the Diamond League final in Oregon, USA, scheduled to take place between September 16-17. Brume, who has previously participated in two Olympic Games, achieved a fifth-place finish in her debut at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and earned a remarkable third-place finish five years later in Tokyo, Japan.
