Nigeria’s Kanyinsola Ajayi has written his identify into the historical past books, changing into the primary Nigerian man in 18 years to qualify for a World Championships 100m last.
The 20-year-old sprinter clocked 9.93 seconds to complete second in his semifinal on Sunday on the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships, securing automated passage into the showpiece race.
Ajayi’s feat brings again reminiscences of Olusoji Fasuba, who final made the boys’s 100m last for Nigeria in Osaka 2007, the place he positioned fourth.
Fasuba additionally stays the Nigerian document holder with 9.85 seconds, a mark Ajayi is edging nearer to together with his lifetime better of 9.88 seconds, set in his first race in Tokyo.
Drawn within the first of three semifinal heats, Ajayi confronted a star-studded lineup that included defending champion Noah Lyles of the USA, Olympic gold medalist Marcell Lamont Jacobs of Italy, and South Africa’s Akani Simbine, a three-time World Championship finalist.
Holding his personal towards such elite firm, the younger Nigerian displayed composure and uncooked pace to punch his ticket to the ultimate.
The boys’s 100m last guarantees to be one of many highlights of the championships, that includes a balanced subject of 4 Africans, two People, and two Jamaicans. Alongside Ajayi and Simbine, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and South Africa’s Present Leotlela additionally superior, underlining Africa’s rising presence within the blue-riband occasion.
The American duo of Lyles and Kenneth Bednarek and Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson and Indirect Seville full the lineup.
Ajayi’s rise has been nothing wanting exceptional. As soon as a standout junior athlete, he has swiftly transitioned to the senior stage, delivering constant sub-10-second performances all through the 2025 season.
His semifinal time of 9.93s reinforces his standing as one of many sport’s brightest younger stars and affords Nigeria hope of ending its lengthy look forward to a worldwide dash medal.
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The boys’s 100m last will happen on Sunday beneath the lights of the Japan Nationwide Stadium in Tokyo, the place Ajayi will purpose to observe in Fasuba’s footsteps — and maybe even go one higher.
Sadly, the opposite Nigerian within the 100m semi-final, Israel Okon, couldn’t pull via, having completed seventh in 10.14s in his race.
