Ezekiel Nathaniel won gold in the men’s 400m hurdles and Udodi Onwuzurike secured silver in the men’s 200m on Day 8 of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, www.aclsports.com reports.
Nathaniel produced a commanding performance to win the men’s 400m hurdles in 48.47 seconds, earning Nigeria’s ninth gold medal of the Games. The victory made him the first Nigerian man to capture Commonwealth Games gold in the event and the country’s first medallist in the discipline since Kingsley Agbabokha won silver in 1966. England’s Jake Minshull took silver in 48.99s, while Jamaica’s Assinie Wilson claimed bronze in 49.22s.
The triumph also ended a 16-year wait for a Nigerian medal in the 400m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games, following Ajoke Odumosu’s silver-medal performance in New Delhi in 2010. The result marked a significant improvement from Nathaniel’s sixth-place finish at Birmingham 2022.
In the men’s 200m final, Onwuzurike recorded a season’s best of 20.09 seconds to finish second and claim the silver medal. Running from lane eight, the Nigerian produced his fastest time of the year, finishing behind South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile, who won gold in 19.96s. Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor took bronze in 20.11s.
Nigeria’s mixed 4x400m relay team also delivered a standout performance as Edidiong Udo, Esther Joseph, Samuel Ogazi and Patience Okon-George won their heat in 3:14.58 to qualify for the final.
The quartet set a new Commonwealth Games record in the event’s debut at the Games, posting the fastest time across both heats. Australia finished second in 3:15.21, while Nigeria advanced to the final as the top qualifiers.
In the women’s long jump qualification, Ruth Usoro progressed to the final after producing a leap of 6.77m on her opening attempt. The mark was beyond the automatic qualifying standard of 6.70m and represented her best jump of the season.
Jami Schlueter completed an impressive Commonwealth Games debut by placing seventh in the men’s decathlon with 7,665 points. The Nigerian remained among the leading contenders for much of the competition before eventually ending the two-day event in seventh position.
Elsewhere, Chinecherem Nnamdi finished 10th in the men’s javelin throw final with a best effort of 76.29m, recorded with his opening throw.
In judo, Michael Agbo narrowly missed out on a medal after losing to England’s Michael Fryer in the men’s 66kg bronze-medal contest.
Team Nigeria ended Day 8 in fifth place on the Commonwealth Games medal table, having amassed nine gold, six silver and three bronze medals for an overall tally of 18.