In his first Olympic appearance, Ezekiel Nathaniel advanced to the semi-finals of the men’s 400m hurdles on Monday morning.

The national record holder finished second in heat four in 48.32 seconds, securing an automatic place. It was Nathaniel’s fourth quickest time ever.

Roshawn Clarke of Jamaica won the race in 48.17 seconds, with Wilfried Happio finishing third in 48.42 seconds.

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Nathaniel is the first Nigerian athlete in 12 years to reach the 400m hurdles semi-finals at the Olympics.

Amaechi Morton was the last Nigerian athlete to qualify for the event’s semi-finals in London 2012.

Nigeria’s Chidi Okezie failed to advance to the men’s 400m semi-finals.

Okezie finished fifth in the second heat of the repechage round, with a time of 45.92 seconds.