African Champion Chidi Okezie has secured a ticket for 2024 Olympic Games, setting a personal best (PB) of 44.97s to win the Men’s 400m at the Edmonton Athletics Invitational, surpassing the Olympic standard to qualify.

Okezie built on his remarkable performance at the African Games in Ghana, where he ran a stunning race in the men’s 400m final, achieving a PB of 45.06s, the fastest time by a Nigerian athlete in nine years.

In the highly competitive race at the Edmonton Athletics Invitational, He finished ahead of Wil London III and DaeQwan Butler, who placed second and third respectively with identical times of 45.55s.

The 30-year-old sprinter will join other Nigerian athletes who have qualified for the Olympics, set to begin on July 26 in Paris.