Kanyinsola Ajayi Breaks Nigerian 100m Record and Makes History With Most Sub-10 Second Finishes in a Single Season

Kanyinsola Ajayi is having the most remarkable sprint season in Nigerian athletics history. The Ikorodu-born 21-year-old has accumulated more sub-10 second 100m finishes in a single season than any Nigerian sprinter before him, capping a campaign that has fundamentally shifted expectations around Nigerian speed on the global stage.

The most recent landmark came on June 12 at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Ajayi crossed the line in 9.72 seconds to claim the 100m title, leaving LSU’s Jaiden Reid (9.82s) and Arkansas’ Jelani Watkins (9.87s) well adrift. The run, however, recorded a wind reading of 2.2 m/s — marginally above the legal limit of 2.0 m/s — meaning it will not stand as an official record despite representing the fastest time Ajayi has ever produced under any conditions.

The performance that will carry lasting official weight came a fortnight earlier. At the NCAA East Regional in Lexington, Kentucky, Ajayi clocked 9.84 seconds with a legal wind reading of 0.4 m/s. That time was enough to dismantle Olusoji Fasuba’s Nigerian national record of 9.85 seconds, a mark that had remained untouched since 2006 — a span of two decades. The record-breaking run also briefly elevated Ajayi to the top of the 2026 world 100m rankings.

Ajayi’s dominant 2026 campaign did not begin outdoors. In March, he travelled to Fayetteville for the NCAA Indoor Championships and won the 60m title in 6.45 seconds, once again edging out Watkins. That time equalled Christian Coleman’s celebrated collegiate record, matched the African indoor record, and simultaneously erased Deji Aliu’s Nigerian national indoor record of 6.48 seconds, which had been set in 1999. The Auburn University athlete therefore holds indoor and outdoor NCAA national titles from the same academic year — a feat that underlines the consistency of his performances across formats and conditions.

Ajayi also has international pedigree to complement his collegiate success. Earlier in 2026, he reached the final of the World Athletics Championships 100m — becoming the first Nigerian sprinter in 18 years to do so — where he finished sixth. The appearance in Tokyo signalled his readiness to compete at the highest level before his record-breaking NCAA run confirmed it emphatically.

The broader statistical picture reinforces the scale of his achievement. No Nigerian athlete had previously recorded as many sub-10 second clockings in a single season, a benchmark that places Ajayi in rarefied company not only domestically but within the wider global sprint landscape. His 9.84s legal personal best now sits among the fastest times ever recorded by an athlete of Nigerian nationality.

For Nigerian athletics, the implications are significant. Fasuba’s 9.85s national record had endured through four Olympic cycles, surviving even as sprinting standards globally continued to rise. Its replacement by a 21-year-old still competing at collegiate level suggests Ajayi is operating well within his ceiling. With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics on the horizon, Ajayi’s trajectory places him among the athletes Nigeria will look to for a genuine medal challenge in the sprints — an event in which the country has historically struggled to maintain a consistent world-class presence.

Ajayi is set to represent Nigeria at the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where his performances in 2026 will make him one of the more closely watched competitors in the men’s 100m.