Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel broke the national record at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, running a personal best of 47.11 seconds to finish fourth in the men’s 400m hurdles final.

The 22-year-old narrowly missed a medal, with Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba taking bronze in 47.06 seconds. America’s Rai Benjamin won gold in 46.52, while Brazil’s Alison dos Santos claimed silver in 46.84.

Nathaniel’s performance erased his previous national mark of 47.10 and made him the first Nigerian man to reach a World Championships final in the event since 1987.

Despite missing the podium, Nathaniel described the outing as a breakthrough and said he was proud to show Nigeria could compete among the world’s best.