Nigeria’s hopes at the 2025 Wanda Diamond League Final rest on the shoulders of Tobi Amusan, Udodi Onwuzurike, and Nathaniel Ezekiel as the country looks to make history at the event holding in Zurich on Thursday.
The trio will not only be competing for pride and prestige at Zurich’s iconic Letzigrund Stadium, but also for the richest payday in Diamond League history, a $50,000 prize for each event winner.
Zurich has always been a special stage for Nigerian athletics, with past highlights from Amusan’s own record runs. But never before has a Nigerian trio of this caliber qualified for the Final in the same year.
At 22, Udodi Onwuzurike is the youngest of the Nigerian athletes in Zurich, but his journey has been far from smooth. Injuries limited his races earlier this season, and he scraped into the Final thanks to a third-place finish in Brussels (20.29s) and late withdrawals from higher-ranked rivals.
That set up a blockbuster 200m final where he will face Olympic champions Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo, as well as Dominican star Alexander Ogando.
Tobi Amusan remains Nigeria’s biggest name in athletics. The world record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles already has three Diamond League titles and has twice won in Zurich, including her meeting record run of 12.29s in 2022.
Her 2025 season has been about redemption after the disappointment of missing the Paris Olympic final. Amusan has bounced back, building momentum and running impressive times including her 12.24s at the Paris Diamond League where she was second to USA’s Grace Stark.
Zurich will pit her against a loaded field that includes Stark, Danielle Williams (Jamaica), Kendra Harrison (USA), Ditaji Kambundji (Switzerland), and Ackera Nugent (Jamaica). Out of all the finalists only Stark has run faster than Amusan this season.
I f she wins, Amusan will become the first athlete in history to win four Diamond League titles in the 100m hurdles.
The rise of Nathaniel Ezekiel has been one of Nigerian athletics’ biggest stories this year. At 22, the Baylor University product smashed the national record for the fifth time this year in the men’s 400m hurdles with a 47.31s run in Silesia, a performance that ranked among the top five in the world in 2025.
Initially outside the qualification spots for Zurich, Ezekiel got his chance after withdrawals from Olympic champion Rai Benjamin and season leader Alison dos Santos. But his performances, including a strong third in Eugene, proved he belongs in the mix.
Zurich’s hurdles final will be stacked, led by Norwegian legend Karsten Warholm, who comes in with a world lead of 46.28s. But Ezekiel is sure ready to challenge.
No Nigerian has ever reached the podium in Zurich’s men’s 400m hurdles final.
While the $50,000 prize is the biggest in Diamond League history, the athletes are also chasing something even more valuable: confidence and momentum heading into the World Championships in Tokyo.
All three Nigerian athletes will take the track on Thursday, with Amusan the first to compete 7:09 p.m. Nigerian time while Ezekiel will run the race his life at 8:44 p.m. before Onwuzurike take the centre stage in the last event of the Diamond League Final at 9:39 p.m.
