Nigerian athletes Tobiloba Amusan, Ezekiel Nathaniel, and Kanyinsola Ajayi have recorded remarkable jumps in the latest World Athletics rankings following their outstanding performances at the 20th World Championships in Tokyo.
Sprint hurdler Amusan claimed silver in the women’s 100m hurdles—her second medal in five World Championships appearances—cementing her status as one of Nigeria’s finest.
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The world record holder entered Tokyo ranked ninth in her specialty and 68th overall in women’s rankings.
After her stellar display, she now sits third in the 100m hurdles and 28th in the global women’s standings, a leap of 40 places.
In the men’s 400m hurdles, Ezekiel Nathaniel made history as only the second Nigerian to reach the final since 1987.
Though he retained his pre-Championships event ranking of fifth, his score rose from 1409 to 1450.
More significantly, the 22-year-old NCAA champion soared from 59th to 15th in the men’s overall rankings—an unprecedented achievement for a Nigerian male athlete.
Rising sprint star Kanyinsola Ajayi also delivered a breakthrough performance.
The 21-year-old clocked a lifetime best of 9.88 seconds to finish sixth in the men’s 100m final.
He entered the Championships ranked 29th but departs as the seventh Nigerian to contest a World Championships 100m final, the fastest Nigerian in the event’s history, and now the 13th-best sprinter globally.
Meanwhile, shot put specialist Chukwuebuka Enekwechi improved his standing after finishing fifth in Tokyo, bettering his eighth-place debut finish in Doha 2019.
Ranked eighth heading into the Championships, the 32-year-old moved up to seventh in the world rankings, with his score improving from 1368 to 1373.
The latest rankings underscore Nigeria’s growing presence on the global athletics stage, with Amusan, Nathaniel, Ajayi, and Enekwechi pushing national records and international recognition to new heights.
