20th March, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Nigeria’s Chidi Okezie ran a time of 45.06 seconds to win gold medal in 400 metres final at the ongoing African Games in Ghana.
His time of 45.06 seconds is the fastest by a Nigerian athlete in nine years. The time was also his personal best.
Okezie defeated one of the world’s fastest men in 400 metres, Muzala Samukonga of Zambia to win the gold.
Samukonga ran a time of 45.37 seconds to win the silver medal while Diouf Cheick Tidiane of Senegal came third in a time of 45.49 seconds.
Okezie, born August 8, 1993 is a US-born sprinter of Nigerian and Jamaican descent. Okezie is competing internationally for Nigeria. He is a two-time African Championships bronze medalist in the 400 metres.
Okezie was part of the American 4 × 400m relay team that won a gold medal at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Barcelona.
He represented Nigeria at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and reached the semifinals of the 400m. He also ran the anchor leg for the country in the 4 x 400 metres relay heats. The team finished second but were eventually disqualified for a lane infringement.
The 2018 African Championships were a success for Okezie. He won an individual bronze medal in the 400 metres behind Baboloki Thebe and Thapelo Phora.
This made him a two-time African Championships bronze medalist as he had won a bronze medal at the 2016 Championships in Durban.
He later anchored the Nigerian 4 x 400m relay team to a bronze medal behind Kenya and South Africa. Okezie was also a member of the African quartet that placed second in the mixed 4 x 400m relay at the 2018 IAAF Continental Cup.