FRANCE — Rising sprint sensation Kanyinsola Ajayi continued his incredible form on Monday evening, clocking a blistering 9.92 seconds to win the men’s 100m at the Meeting International de Sotteville-lès-Rouen.
Competing from lane five at Stade Jean Adret, the 20-year-old Nigerian athlete got off to a sharp start with a reaction time of 0.156 seconds and powered past a competitive field that included five sub-10 second runners. A legal tailwind of +1.7 m/s helped propel Ajayi to victory, breaking the 2015 meet record of 10.02s set by Trinidad and Tobago’s Keston Bledman.
Cameroonian veteran Emmanuel Eseme placed second in 10.04s, while Senegal’s Mamadou Sarr followed in third with 10.10s. Great Britain’s Eugene Amo-Dadzie and Australia’s Rohan Browning both finished in 10.16s, with Amo-Dadzie narrowly ahead on time differential. Canada’s Jerome Blake (10.23s), South Africa’s Tsebo Matsoso (10.32s), and France’s Jimmy Vicaut (10.36s) completed the field.
Ajayi’s dominant run marks his return to competition since finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, where he first recorded 9.92s — a time that launched him into international prominence.
The performance cements Ajayi’s status among the world’s elite sprinters in 2025. He now shares fourth place on Nigeria’s all-time 100m list with Seun Ogunkoya and Udodi Onwuzurike. Only Soji Fasuba (9.85s), Divine Oduduru (9.86s), and Godson Oghenebrume (9.90s) have run faster.
The Auburn University standout now boasts two of Nigeria’s top five legal all-time 100m performances — all by the age of 20. He also joins Davidson Ezinwa and Ogunkoya as one of only three Nigerians to record four sub-10 second runs, the second-highest total in national history.
Ajayi won the Nigerian national 100m title in June 2024 and reached the semi-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics. He also represented Nigeria in the 4x100m relay, gaining valuable international relay experience.
Earlier in 2024, Ajayi narrowly missed the podium at the African Championships in Douala, placing fourth in the 100m but helping Nigeria to silver in the 4x100m relay. His indoor campaign was just as impressive, running a personal best of 6.48s over 60m at the NCAA Indoor Championships and finishing second in Virginia Beach with 6.52s.
With back-to-back sub-10 performances and growing international experience, Ajayi is fast establishing himself as the future of Nigerian sprinting.
