Nigeria’s Kanyinsola Ajayi Sets Record In France

Nigeria’s sprinter, Kanyinsola Ajayi, delivered an outstanding performance on Monday evening, clocking 9.92 seconds to win the men’s 100m at the Meeting International Sotteville-lès-Rouen in France.

Kanyinsola Ajayi took off from lane five at Stade Jean Adret. The 20-year-old launched with a reaction time of 0.156 seconds, going past a competitive field with five sub-10-second sprinters.

Ajayi’s stunning run not only equalled his personal best but also shattered the nine-year-old meet record of 10.02s previously held by Trinidad and Tobago’s Keston Bledman.

With a legal tailwind of +1.7 m/s aiding the race, Cameroonian veteran Emmanuel Eseme finished second in 10.04s, while Senegal’s Mamadou Sarr followed in 10.10s.

British sprinter Eugene Amo-Dadzie overtook Australia’s Rohan Browning as both clocked 10.16s, and Canada’s Jerome Blake placed sixth in 10.23s.

Ajayi, fresh off a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, where he also ran 9.92s, has now firmly established himself among the world’s elite. His time ties him for fourth on Nigeria’s all-time list, sharing the spot with Seun Ogunkoya and Udodi Onwuzurike.

The Auburn University star also reached the Olympic semi-finals in Paris and led Nigeria to a 4x100m silver at the African Championships in June.

With two of the top five times in Nigerian history at just 20 years old, Ajayi’s rise shows no signs of slowing.