Nigerian sprint sensation Kanyinsola Ajayi has rewritten the country’s athletics record books after clocking a historic 9.84 seconds in the men’s 100 metres at the 2026 NCAA Division I East First Round meet in the United States. According to a terse statement on the website of the NCAA, the 21-year-old……
Nigerian sprint sensation Kanyinsola Ajayi has rewritten the country’s athletics record books after clocking a historic 9.84 seconds in the men’s 100 metres at the 2026 NCAA Division I East First Round meet in the United States.
According to a terse statement on the website of the NCAA, the 21-year-old Auburn University athlete produced the blistering performance in the quarter-final heats in the early hours of Saturday, setting a new Nigerian national record and becoming the fastest Nigerian ever over the distance.
Ajayi’s time eclipsed the long-standing national mark of 9.85 seconds set by Olusoji Fasuba in May 2006, ending a record that had stood for two decades.
The achievement marks another milestone in the sprinter’s rapid rise on the international stage. Ajayi had signalled his readiness to challenge the record in recent years, most notably at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where he ran 9.88 seconds in the heats to become the first Nigerian in 18 years to qualify for a men’s 100m world championship final. He later finished sixth in the final.
READ ALSO: NCAA Gives Air Operator Licence to Pioneer Airlines
The new national record also places Ajayi at the top of the global rankings for 2026, making him the fastest man in the world this year.
His performance surpassed the season-leading mark previously held by Botswana’s Collen Kebinatshipi, the reigning world 400m champion, who had attracted global attention earlier in the week with an impressive showing in the shorter sprint event.
Ajayi’s 9.84 seconds run leaves him just 0.02 seconds shy of the NCAA men’s 100m record of 9.82 seconds established by Christian Coleman in 2017 while competing for the University of Tennessee. The Nigerian now ranks as the second-fastest collegiate sprinter in American history.
Meanwhile, fellow Nigerian athlete Samuel Ogazi also delivered a record-breaking performance at the meet.
Ogazi stormed to a new national record in the men’s 400 metres, crossing the finish line in 43.82 seconds to continue his impressive form on the global circuit.
The time not only established a new Nigerian record but also improved on the world-leading mark he had set earlier this month, further strengthening his status as one of the leading quarter-milers in the world this season.