Ned Justeen Azemia (born 21 August 1997) is a

Seychellois Demographic features of the population of Seychelles include population density, ethnicity, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Seychelles has no indigenous population and was first permanently settled by a small group ...

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

who specialises in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Summer Olympics, Olympic Sport of athletics, athletics programme since 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900 for men and since 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 for women. On a ...

. He is the current Seychellois record holder in the event. Azemia competed in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

in the 400 metres hurdles. He has also competed in two World Junior Championships, an African athletics championships and an

African Youth Games The African Youth Games is an international multi-sport event held every four years to complement the current Africa Games. The first games was hosted by Rabat, Morocco. This international sportive event has been created by Lassana Palenfo, c ...

. Azemia has also raced over the flat

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

distance.

Competition

Azemia's debut at an international athletics competition was at the

2014 African Youth Games The 2nd African Youth Games took place in Gaborone, Botswana's capital city from 22 to 31 May 2014. The Games featured approximately 2000 athletes from 51 African countries competing in 21 sports. Gambia, Eritrea and Mauritania were the only Afr ...

, where he won the bronze medal in the 400 metres hurdles with a time of 53.27 seconds. His placing at the African Youth Games qualified him for the 2014 World Junior Championships, where he competed in the

. He was disqualified from his heat and therefore eliminated from the competition. He then competed at the

2014 African Championships in Athletics The 2014 African Championships in Athletics was held in Marrakech, Morocco from 10 to 14 August 2014. The competition was the 19th edition of Africa senior championships. The competition served as preparation to African athletes for the next conti ...

in the

. Azemia raced in heat two and ran a time of 55.72 seconds. He was 6.39 seconds slower than the heat winner, Nicholas Bett of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. Azemia failed to qualify for the next round. Azemia also competed in the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

as part of a Seychelles team. The team reached the final but didn't race in it. Azemia competed at the IAAF World U20 Championships in July 2016 and was knocked out of the

in the semi-final round after his time of 51.64 seconds was not quick enough to qualify for the final. Earlier in the competition, he had run a Seychellois national junior record time of 51.50 seconds, to finish second in his heat and qualify for the semi-final round. At the

, Azemia competed in the

. Azemia, who was the youngest Seychellois athlete at the Games, was drawn in heat three, a heat containing the

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

bronze medalist Javier Culson. In the race on 15 August 2016, Azemia ran a time of 50.74 seconds. Azemia's time was a personal best (beating his previous best of 51.09), and a new Seychellois national record. It was also a new Seychellois national junior record. After the race, Azemia told the

Seychelles News Agency The Seychelles News Agency (SNA) was the state media, state news agency of Seychelles. It is headquartered in Victoria, Seychelles, Victoria and regulated by the Seychelles Media Commission. It ceased operations in December, 2024. History Laun ...

that "he knew going into the race that it would be difficult to qualify for the next round, but he was nevertheless happy with his performance". Seychelles Athletics Federation secretary Wilfred Adrienne said that, "It he racewas great, an impressive performance for someone his age at such a high-level competition and we he Seychelles Athletics Federationare proud of him". Azemia's time was the 43rd-quickest out of 47 athletes. Azemia's time was 0.97 seconds slower than the slowest athlete to progress to the next round and, therefore, he was eliminated. He competed in the men's 400 metres hurdles event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. Azemia competed at the collegiate level for the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public university, public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the Univers ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azemia, Ned Justeen 1997 births Living people Seychellois male hurdlers Olympic athletes for Seychelles Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games African Games competitors for Seychelles Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics