The 21-year-old clocked a blistering 47.11 seconds in the men’s final on Thursday night, finishing fourth in a fiercely contested race that saw him narrowly miss out on a podium finish.
For a brief moment, Nathaniel appeared to have secured bronze after American Rai Benjamin was disqualified for a lane infringement. But following a successful appeal, Benjamin was reinstated and went on to take gold.
Brazil’s Alison dos Santos settled for silver in 46.84 seconds, while Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba clinched bronze in 47.06 seconds — just fractions ahead of Nathaniel.
Despite missing the medals, the Nigerian’s performance drew widespread praise as a major breakthrough. His 47.11-second run improved on his own previous record of 47.31 seconds, set earlier this year at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Poland.
Nathaniel’s rise has been remarkable. Born in 2003, he competes for Baylor University in Texas. As a freshman in 2022, he broke Henry Amike’s 35-year-old national record of 48.50 seconds with a 48.42s run at the Big 12 Conference meet in Lubbock.
Since then, he has steadily lowered the mark. In June 2025, he stormed to victory at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, with 47.49 seconds — not only shattering his own record but also becoming the third-fastest man in NCAA history over the distance.
Earlier in the NCAA semifinals, he became the first athlete ever to dip under 48 seconds in a semifinal, clocking 47.86 seconds.
With his latest feat in Tokyo, Nathaniel has now positioned himself among the elite in global 400m hurdles, and athletics watchers say it is only a matter of time before Nigeria celebrates its first world medal in the event.