Samuel Ogazi
Samuel Ogazi is a Nigerian sprinter who predominantly competes over 400 metres. He was a bronze medalist at the 2024 African Championships and competed at the 2024 Olympic Games. He won the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Early life
Ogazi was based as a teenager in Kaduna. In 2023, he accepted a scholarship to study at the University of Alabama.Career
He competed in the relay at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.He won the 200m and 400m at the 2023 African U18 and U20 Championships in Athletics in Ndola, Zambia. He won gold over 200 metres and 400 metres at the Athletics at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago. He also won gold in the mixed relay as his Nigerian team set a new games record.
In March 2024, he set a new Nigerian under-18 record for the 400 metres, running 45.35s to finish second overall behind Christopher Morales Williams in Louisiana. The following month he lowered his
personal best to 45.29 seconds in Florida.
He competed for Nigeria at the 2024 World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas. With a time of 3:12.87, the Nigerian Mixed 4x400m team of Ogazi, Ella Onojuvwevwo, Chidi Okezie and Esther Joseph set a new Nigerian national record and African Continental record at the event on 5 May 2024. Later that month he lowered his personal best to 44.53 seconds in Lexington, Kentucky. He was runner-up at the 2024 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, running 44.52 seconds.
In June 2024, he won bronze in the 400 metres at the African Championships in Douala, Cameroon. He competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics over 400 metres in August 2024, where he ran a personal best on his way to the final, where he placed seventh overall. He also competed in the mixed relay at the Games.
He won the 400 metres title at the 2025 SEC Championships in Lexington, Kentucky in May 2025. In June 2025, he also won the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships 400 metres title in Eugene, Oregon.
He was selected for the Nigerian team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. He ran in the heats of the men's 400 metres without advancing to the semi-finals, later revealing that he ran with a leg injury.