Tobi Amusan Leads Trio of Nigerians in World Athletics Top 100 Rankings

Nigerian track and field stars have made a powerful start to the new year, with three athletes securing places among the world’s top 100 in the official World Athletics rankings for the 2025 season.

Leading the charge is world record holder Tobi Amusan. The hurdling icon capped her year by being ranked the third-best female 100m hurdler globally. Amusan earned 1,430 ranking points, a position bolstered by her silver medal performance at the Tokyo 2025 World Championships. Only Switzerland’s gold medalist Ditaji Kambundji and America’s Grace Stark finished ahead of her. At 28, Amusan remains the sole Nigerian woman ranked in the top five of her event and holds 28th place in the overall women’s rankings.

She is joined in the elite ranks by 22-year-old Ezekiel Nathaniel, who enjoyed a phenomenal breakout season in the 400m hurdles. Nathaniel ended the year as the world’s fifth-ranked athlete in his discipline and an impressive 15th in the men’s overall standings. His historic season included a Diamond League final appearance, where he placed third, and he became the first Nigerian to break the 48-second barrier in the 400m hurdles—a feat he achieved nine times. His national record of 47.11 seconds is narrowly just one-hundredth of a second shy of the African record.

Completing the trio is multiple African champion Chukwuebuka Enekwechi. The shot putter earned his place in the men’s top 100, finishing the season ranked 100th overall and seventh in his event following a fifth-place finish at the World Championships.

Together, Amusan, Nathaniel, and Enekwechi are the only Nigerian athletes to conclude the 2025 season within the top ten of their respective events, ensuring Nigeria’s continued prominence on the international athletics stage.