World Athletics Ultimate Championship: Nigeria End Budapest Campaign with Nathaniel Sixth, Onwuzurike Eighth
Team Nigeria brought its campaign at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, to a close on Sunday with Ezekiel Nathaniel finishing sixth in the men’s 400m hurdles final and Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike placing eighth in the men’s 200m.
Nathaniel, who entered the championship among the leading contenders in the event, produced a strong run to reach the final after finishing second behind Norway’s Karsten Warholm in his semi-final in 47.75 seconds.
World Athletics records show Nathaniel had established himself as one of Nigeria’s leading international performers in the event, with a personal best of 47.11 seconds.
In the final, however, the Nigerian was unable to break into the medal positions as Brazil’s Alison dos Santos produced a spectacular performance to take the inaugural title in 45.98 seconds.
Rai Benjamin of the United States finished second, while Warholm claimed third as the three established heavyweights dominated the podium.
Nathaniel’s sixth-place finish nevertheless capped an impressive season for the 23-year-old, who won Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow earlier this year with 48.47 seconds.
Onwuzurike also reached the final of the men’s 200m but finished eighth after coming through a formidable field featuring some of the world’s leading sprinters.
The Nigerian had entered the championship with a 2026 season’s best of 20.09 seconds and a reputation strengthened by his Commonwealth Games silver medal in Glasgow, where he ran 20.09 seconds behind South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile.
American Kenny Bednarek produced one of the outstanding performances of the closing session, completing his sprint double with victory in the 200m. He clocked 19.52 seconds, while Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo took second in 19.76.
Nigeria’s strongest individual performance in Budapest came from Tobi Amusan, who secured silver in the women’s 100m hurdles on the opening day.
American Masai Russell won the title in 12.22 seconds, with Amusan finishing second in 12.34.
Kanyinsola Ajayi also delivered a notable performance, finishing fourth in the men’s 100m final in 9.93 seconds.
He was only denied a podium place on the narrowest of margins, with Jamaica’s Oblique Seville taking silver in 9.90 and American Ronnie Baker third in 9.93.
Ella Onojuvwevwo, meanwhile, missed the women’s 400m final after finishing sixth in her semi-final, bringing her individual campaign to an early end.
The Budapest championship was the first edition of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, a new three-day competition designed to bring together the leading athletes across the sport’s disciplines.
The event featured 381 athletes from 65 federations competing for a share of a record US$10 million prize fund, with individual champions receiving US$150,000.
For Nigeria, Budapest produced one silver medal through Amusan, a fourth-place finish from Ajayi and final appearances for Nathaniel and Onwuzurike.
While the country fell short of adding another medal on the final day, the performances of Nathaniel and Onwuzurike against elite opposition underline Nigeria’s growing presence on the global athletics stage as the season moves towards its final stretch.
