Amusan Chasing History as Ezekiel, Ajayi Aim for First Diamond League Glory in Brussels
Three Nigerian athletes can rewrite the country’s sporting story this weekend if Oluwatobiloba Amusan, Kanyisola Ajayi or Ezekiel Nathaniel wins at the 2026 Wanda Diamond League grand finale, the Allianz Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, running today and Saturday. Such a result would offer a welcome lift after the storm that followed the resignation of the Ibrahim Gusau led board of the Nigeria Football Federation.
Four years ago Amusan stood at the summit of the women’s 100m hurdles with a world record of 12.12 seconds, set at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, USA. That reign ended last week in Zurich when American Masai Russell, who has hunted her all season, posted 12.09 seconds. Russell, Olympic champion in Paris two years ago, arrives in Brussels having beaten Amusan four times this year. In a winner takes all final, though, the form book can still be torn up.
The 29 year old from Sagamu, Ogun State, has often produced her best when few expected it. This is her first Diamond League final since 2023, and that return could be the spark she needs to reclaim the world title and add a fourth Diamond League crown to her record. World indoor champion Devynne Charlton and the Netherlands’ Nadine Visser will also be in the hunt when the barriers go up on Saturday evening in the Belgian capital.
Today the men’s 100m final offers Kanyisola Ajayi a chance to make his own statement. Tipped for Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow, he took bronze instead. The 21 year old Nigerian record holder earned a global wildcard after winning two Diamond League meetings this season, both in 9.84 seconds, in Eugene and London. He will try to become the first Nigerian man to win the Diamond League 100m title.
Ajayi has reason to believe. He has beaten Jamaica’s Oblique Seville three times in five meetings, holds a 4 to 1 edge over South Africa’s Akani Simbine and leads Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme 4 to 2. He is unbeaten against American Trayvon Bromell, while his meetings with Christian Coleman, Lachlan Kennedy and Gift Leotlela have been tighter. Those numbers count for little until the gun fires. Seville, the reigning world champion, and a deep field of elite sprinters stand between him and the Diamond Trophy.
Nathaniel Ezekiel is back in the Diamond League Final aiming to go one place better than last year, when the 23 year old finished runner up in the 400m hurdles. He has run 47.37 seconds this season and holds a personal best of 47.11. Brazil’s Alison dos Santos looms largest after smashing the world record with 45.80 seconds in Zurich last week, cutting 0.14 seconds off Karsten Warholm’s old mark. Warholm will not run in Brussels, which removes one giant rival, but Ezekiel will still need a career best to challenge the new record holder.
Winners in Brussels in events that feature at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship earn automatic places at the 10 million dollar showdown the following week in Budapest, Hungary.
