LAGOS JULY 19TH (NEWSRNAGERS)-Kayinsola Ajayi has won his second consecutive Diamond League 100 meter race after another blistering performance at the London Stadium on Saturday.
The 21-year-old defeated Jamaica’s Seville Oblique, the reigning world champion over the distance, for the second time in two weeks.
Ajayi crossed the finish line at 9.84 seconds, equaling the Nigerian national record. He had clocked that exact time twice previously in the past two months.
The race at the London Stadium was a tug between Ajayi and Seville in the first 50 meters until the Nigerian 100m record holder shifted into a faster gear towards the end of the race and stared down the Jamaican as he crossed the line.
Seville settled for second place in 9.87 seconds while the UK’s Romell Glave took the third spot on the podium, clocking a personal best of 9.97 seconds to narrowly edge out Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, who finished fourth with the same time.
The depth of the race was evident as South Africa’s Gift Leotlela and America’s Jordan Anthony both dipped under the ten-second barrier, finishing fifth and sixth in 9.99 seconds. British sprinters Zharnel Hughes (10.02s) and Jeremiah Azu (10.07s) finished seventh and eighth, respectively.
Ajayi’s performance continues his impressive form ahead of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, where he is one of Team Nigeria’s medal hopefuls.
Nigeria did not win an individual medal in men’s sprinting events at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Ajayi is also the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion in both the men’s 60m indoor and 100m outdoor.
He took the NCAA title with a wind-aided 9.72-second finish, placing joint sixth with the legendary Asafa Powell on the list of the world’s fastest sprinters under all conditions. Only Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay, Yohan Blake, Obadele Thompson and Andre De Grasse have run faster.
TheCable
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