Nigeria’s Kanyinsola Ajayi has carved his name into athletics history, ending an 18-year drought by becoming the first Nigerian man since 2007 to qualify for a World Championships 100m final.
The 20-year-old sprinter lit up the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships on Sunday night, clocking an impressive 9.93 seconds to finish second in his semifinal. His performance not only secured automatic passage into the final but also rekindled memories of Olusoji Fasuba’s heroics in Osaka 2007, when he placed fourth in the men’s 100m final.
Fasuba, still the Nigerian record holder with 9.85 seconds, remains the benchmark for Nigerian sprinting. Ajayi, however, is inching closer, boasting a lifetime best of 9.88 seconds, set earlier in Tokyo, that places him firmly within striking distance of rewriting the record books.
Drawn in the first of three semifinals, Ajayi faced a glittering cast of sprint royalty: reigning 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. Despite the pressure, the young Nigerian displayed remarkable composure, holding his ground and unleashing his raw speed to earn his spot in the ultimate showdown.
The men’s 100m final is shaping up as one of the marquee events of these championships. Four Africans, Ajayi, Simbine, Botswana’s teenage sensation Letsile Tebogo, and South Africa’s Gift Leotlela, will join two Americans (Lyles and Kenneth Bednarek) and two Jamaicans (Kishane Thompson and Oblique Seville) in a mouthwatering contest that underlines Africa’s rising sprint power.
Ajayi’s meteoric rise has been nothing short of remarkable. A former standout in the junior ranks, he has transitioned seamlessly to the senior stage, consistently delivering sub-10-second performances throughout the 2025 season. His semifinal time reinforced his credentials as one of the brightest young stars in global athletics, while also igniting Nigerian hopes of finally ending the nation’s long medal wait in men’s sprinting.
The final, set under the lights of the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, offers Ajayi a chance to not just follow in Fasuba’s footsteps, but potentially to eclipse him. All eyes will be on the young sprinter as he prepares for the biggest race of his career.
Sadly, Nigeria’s other semifinalist, Israel Okon, bowed out after finishing seventh in his heat with 10.14 seconds.