The national record holder in the men’s 400m hurdles, Ezekiel Nathaniel, has set his sights on the gold medal after qualifying for the semi-finals of the event at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday.

Nathaniel had an impressive run from lane three to place second in 48.38s, his fourth fastest time ever, to qualify for the semi-finals (today).

Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke won the race in 48.17s, and France’s Wilfried Happio took the last automatic spot in 48.42s.

Nathaniel is the first Nigerian athlete in 12 years to make the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles at the Olympics, and the 21-year-old is hoping to do much better than Amaechi Morton at London 2012 and Henry Amike at Los Angeles 1984.

Having made the finals of some major competitions in the world, the national champion is upbeat about his chances ahead of Wednesday’s final.