Nigeria’s lateest sprints sensation, Kanyinsola Ajayi has set his mind on enacting a stunning finish and win the men’s 100m gold medal with his best time ever at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, Sports247 reports.
As the countddownh towards Glasgow 2026 gets tighter, Ajayi has already been rated among the gold medal favourittes in the blue ribbon race, heading into which the Nigerian speedster is ranked among the world’s 100 best ever.
Read Also: How to Watch Team Nigeria Live at Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games on TV, Online
He recently made history by becoming the first Nigerian male sprinter in the World Athletics overall Top 100 rankings, as he now stands at number 83 globally, after shattering Olusoji Adetokunbo Fasuba’s 20-year-old 100m national record with a time of 9.84 seconds.
Highlights of his recent milestones include equaling the national record, winning the Prefontaine Classic 100m in Eugene, Oregon, USA – where he defeated reigning world champion, Oblique Seville (9.89s) and Christian Coleman (9.95s).
Ajayi also emerged tops in USA’s National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) 100m title with a wind-aided 9.72 seconds, which is one of the fastest times ever recorded in history under any condition, as well as a historic qualification to the World Athletics Championships final in Tokyo.
On his debut at the illustrious Diamond League, the 21-year-old fast-rising sprinter, who hails from Ikorodu in Lagos State and attends Auburn University in the USA, got a winning time of 9.84 – second only to Seville’s season-best of 9.82.
Ajayi’s winning time also equalled the Nigerian record of 9.84 seconds that he first set in May at the NCAA East Regional Championships, when he erased Fasuba’s 9.85 seconds that had stood strong since the 2006 Doha Grand Prix.
As he now sets his sight on more heroics at the Commonwealth Games, Ajayi declared: “I feel good, I’ve been consistent. That was part of my goal to stay on top of it all, stay consistent, do what I have to do and just execute my race.
“Equalling the national record again means a lot. That means I can do better and I feel great about that. I’m just going to continue the momentum, no going back and whatever is next is next.”
Sports247 reports further that Ajayi, who was born on September 14th, 2004, is also the African record holder over 60 metres and he first became Nigeria’s 100m national champion in 2024.
He shot to limelight after winning both sprints at the 2021 Maltina School Games and set a personal best of 10.26 seconds for the 100m at the second Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) All-Comers meet at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos in 2022.
Ajayi later competed at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, then won gold in both the 100m and 4x100m relay at the 2023 African U20 Athletics Championships in Ndola, Zambia.
