Nigerian sprinter Ella Onojuvwevwo has topped the country’s 2026 women’s 400-metre rankings with a personal best of 49.47 seconds.
The 21-year-old set the mark when she won the women’s 400m at the USATF Lone Star Grand Prix in College Station, Texas, on June 6.
The performance made Onojuvwevwo only the fourth Nigerian woman to run the distance in under 50 seconds, and the only athlete on the 2026 national top list to achieve the feat.
She leads the rankings by 0.78 seconds, with Onyinye Onyah second in 50.25 seconds, followed by Iyanuoluwa Aderemi in 50.95 seconds and Esther Elo Joseph in 50.97 seconds.
The four athletes are the only Nigerians to have gone under 51 seconds this year.
Chioma Nwachukwu is fifth with 51.24 seconds, ahead of Patience Okon George, Esther Okon, Blessing Joy Akintoye, Chidimma Margaret Agu and Princess Uche.
Onojuvwevwo has enjoyed an impressive season, opening her outdoor campaign with 49.59 seconds at the Battle on the Bayou in Baton Rouge on April 4, becoming the first LSU athlete to break the 50-second barrier in the event.
She also ran 50.28 seconds indoors in March, a performance listed by World Athletics as an African record.
Onojuvwevwo later won bronze in the women’s 400m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, clocking 51.00 seconds.
The medal was Nigeria’s first in the women’s 400m at the Games since Fatima Yusuf won silver in 1994.
Onojuvwevwo, who completed four years at Louisiana State University before turning professional this year, is currently ranked 19th in the world in the women’s 400m by World Athletics.
