Eugene Diamond League: Enekwechi Makes History as Amusan, Nathaniel Shine

Five Nigerian contingents: Rosemary Chukwuma, Tobi Amusan, Ezekiel Nathaniel, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi and Favour Ofili, were in action on Saturday, June 5, 2025, at the Eugene Diamond League, across four track and field events.

Rosemary Chukwuma began proceedings in the Women’s 100m event, running a time of 11.09s (+1.7) to finish fourth. Tobi Amusan then continued just about nine minutes later in the Women’s 100m Hurdles. She stormed to a second-place finish with a time of 12.38s, underscoring her consistent improvement this season.

Nathaniel Ezekiel was up next to get the Men’s event going for Nigeria, as he took to the tracks for his first professional Diamond League and professional debut. Ezekiel, who had a stellar showing at the NCAA Championship where he raced to victory with a personal best of 47.49s, shook off initial jitters to finish third with a time of 47.88s against a very experienced, strong, and competitive field in the Men’s 400m Hurdle.

Still sticking with the men, Nigeria’s number one shot putter, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, threw an African Record of 22.10m to finish third, smashing South Africa’s Janus Roberts’ long-standing record of 21.97m.

To conclude proceedings for the Nigerians at the Prefontaine Classic, Favour Ofili ran against a very competitive field including Olympic gold medalist Julien Alfred and could not outpace the majority, finishing fifth with a time of 11.09s (-1.5) in the Women’s 100m event.