The sprinter, Samuel Ogazi, 18, has become first Nigerian to qualify for final of men’s 400 meters at 2024 Paris Olympics.
Gatekeepers News reports that Ogazi, on Tuesday, finished in 44.41 seconds, becoming the third in heat 3 of men’s 400 meters semi-final.
The sprinter qualified for final in one of the two non-automatic spots.
Ogazi has been slotted in lane two of the final, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday by 9:20 pm.
The contest will be intense as he will compete against highly skilled sprinters like Kirani James (Grenada), Quincy Hall (USA), and others in the final.
Ogazi won 200m and 400m titles at 2023 African U18 and U20 Championships in Athletics in Ndola, Zambia, and bagged gold 200m and 400m at 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago.
The sprinter holds the Nigerian under-18 record for the 400 metres after running 45.35 seconds in March.
Nigeria has not been represented in Olympic final since Innocent Egbunike got into finals in 1988, and finished fifth with 44.72 seconds.
