Nigeria will send a formidable contingent to the first World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, where Tobi Amusan, Kayinsola Ajayi and Ezekiel Nathaniel will lead the nation’s medal ambitions from September 11 to 13.
World Athletics’ final entry lists, issued on Sunday, include 381 competitors representing 65 federations. The three-day event will feature 28 disciplines and offer a record total prize fund of $10 million.
Ajayi gives Nigeria an additional individual medal contender after securing one of the 16 places in the men’s 100 metres. The sprinter has produced an outstanding campaign and arrives in Budapest with a season-leading personal mark of 9.84 seconds, making him one of the quickest entrants and fourth in the world rankings.
He will face a high-calibre line-up headed by Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, whose best time this season is 9.82 seconds. Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, South Africa’s Akani Simbine and United States representatives Kenneth Bednarek, Ronnie Baker, Christian Coleman and Trayvon Bromell are also in the field. Ajayi’s results this year have raised expectations that he can challenge for a podium finish in one of the championship’s showcase races.
Amusan will compete in the women’s 100 metres hurdles. The former world champion and world-record holder is ranked second globally and has recorded 12.23 seconds as her best time of the season.
Her principal rival will be American Masai Russell, who has run 12.09 seconds in 2026. The entries also include Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas, Nadine Visser of the Netherlands, Jamaicans Ackera Nugent and Danielle Williams, and American Alaysha Johnson.
Nathaniel represents Nigeria’s third major individual hope, lining up in the men’s 400m hurdles. His season’s best of 47.17 seconds places him third among the athletes named on the final entry list.
Brazilian Alison dos Santos tops the field with a 45.80-second mark, while Norway’s Karsten Warholm and United States Olympic champion Rai Benjamin are among the leading obstacles standing between Nathaniel and a medal.
Nigeria will also compete beyond the individual programme, having been included among the nine countries entered for the mixed 4x100m relay. The other teams are Jamaica, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, Spain and hosts Hungary.
The qualification was secured at the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone in May. Nigeria advanced to the mixed 4x100m final and placed sixth, earning one of the six automatic spots available for the Budapest championship.
Favour Ashe, Jennifer Chukwuka-Obi, Chidera Ezeakor and Maria Thompson Omokwe had previously posted 40.24 seconds for Nigeria in the qualifying round in Gaborone. Jamaica will begin as the leading contender after establishing a world record of 39.62 seconds at the same meeting.
Nigeria will therefore contest three high-profile individual events at the inaugural Ultimate Championship, as well as the mixed sprint relay.
