Commonwealth Games: Nathaniel storms to 400m hurdles gold

August 1, 2026 1:33 am

Ezekiel Nathaniel stormed to gold in the men’s 400m hurdles at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games on Friday, delivering a commanding victory in 48.47 seconds to add another golden chapter to Team Nigeria’s campaign, Saturday PUNCH reports.

The Nigerian pulled clear of the field down the home straight to beat England’s Jake Minshull, who took silver in 48.99 seconds, while Jamaica’s Assinie Wilson claimed bronze in 49.22 seconds.

The triumph took Team Nigeria’s tally to nine gold medals at the Glasgow Games, underlining the country’s growing dominance across multiple sports at the competition.

Nathaniel had entered the final as the man to beat, having reinforced his medal credentials in the heats by winning Heat Two in 48.69 seconds to qualify as the fastest overall qualifier, ahead of Minshull, who clocked 48.88 seconds, and India’s Santhosh Tamilarasan, who ran 49.51 seconds.

The 23-year-old, who holds the Nigerian record of 47.86 seconds, arrived in Glasgow as one of the sport’s most consistent quarter-mile hurdlers of the past four years, having reached the semi-finals at the World Championships in both 2022 and 2023 as well as at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

His breakthrough came at Baylor University in Texas, where he broke the Nigerian record as a freshman in 2022 and went on to become the school’s first-ever national champion in the event, winning the 2025 NCAA Outdoor title in a personal best of 47.49 seconds and earning the men’s track athlete of the year award.

Nathaniel, who hails from Delta State and left Nigeria in 2022 to pursue his athletics career in the United States, showed remarkable consistency throughout the Glasgow competition and duly delivered on his billing, crowning his campaign with the Commonwealth title.

Peter Akinbo

Peter, who has been covering sports for PUNCH for close to two years, focuses on combat sports reporting, special features and human angle stories

All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

Contact: [email protected]