Ogazi and Onojuvwevwo lead Nigeria's 400m team

Samuel Ogazi. Photo: Olympics

Five Nigerian athletes will compete in the men’s and women’s 400m semi-finals at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Thursday. Samuel Ogazi and Ella Onojuvwevwo are leading Nigeria's quest for medals, according to PUNCH Sports Extra.

The Nigerian team includes two men and three women. Ogazi and Onojuvwevwo secured their spots in the semi-finals based on their world rankings. Their teammates, Patience Okon-George, Esther Joseph, and Eddidiong Udo, qualified through the preliminary heats on Tuesday.

In the men’s race, Udo had a great performance in his first international 400m for Nigeria. He won Heat 1 in 45.73 seconds, earning an automatic spot in the semi-finals.

Udo will run from lane eight in the third semi-final. Ogazi will compete from lane five in the opening semi-final.

For the women, veteran Okon-George also advanced automatically. She finished fourth in her heat with a time of 53.27 seconds. She will run from lane three in the first semi-final.

Joseph will join her in the same race, running from lane four after placing third in her heat with a time of 52.82 seconds.

Onojuvwevwo is the third woman from Nigeria in the semi-finals. She will race from lane seven in the third semi-final as she aims for a final spot.

With five athletes in the last four across both events, Nigeria hopes to turn this strong showing into several spots in the 400m finals. The athletics events are heating up in Glasgow.