The 2025 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship witnessed a series of electrifying performances, with Nigeria’s Nathaniel Ezekiel breaking the 400m indoor record for the second time in two weeks.
Ezekiel set the new meet record by improving his NCAA-leading time to 44.74 seconds in the 400m.
“Nathaniel Ezekiel set a meet record and bested his NCAA-leading mark this season to 44.74 seconds. Ezekiel would later anchor the men’s 4x400 relay team to its 17th overall Big 12 title, finishing with a time of 3:04.78,” organisers said in a statement.
Ezekiel Nathaniel is the first Nigerian athlete in 12yrs to make the semifinals of the 400m Hurdles at an Olympics (Paris) event with the last being Amaechi Morton at London 2012 Olympics.
The Nigerian basketball team made history at the Paris Olympics by becoming the first African team ever to advance to the quarterfinal of the sport in the tournament.
Other African winners at the 2025 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship are Nigeria's Temitope Adeshina who also defended her high jump title in a dramatic jump-off of 1.90 meters.
Kenya's Laban Kipkemboi added to the African success story as he won gold in a mile race at 4:08.63.
The players were welcomed by fans and dignitaries at Juba International Airport before a procession took them to the stadium.
