Nigerian sprint sensation Kanyinsola Ajayi continued his stunning rise in world athletics on Monday evening by clocking 9.92 seconds to win the men’s 100m final at the Meeting International de Sotteville-lès-Rouen in France, shattering a nine-year-old meet record.
Running out of lane five at the Stade Jean Adret, the 20-year-old displayed explosive acceleration and smooth mechanics to defeat a strong international field that featured five sub-10 runners. His winning time, matched with a legal +1.7 m/s tailwind, equalled his personal best and erased the previous record of 10.02s set by Trinidad and Tobago’s Keston Bledman in 2015.
Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme followed in second with 10.04s, while Senegal’s Mamadou Sarr claimed third place in 10.10s. Great Britain’s Eugene Amo-Dadzie (10.16s) edged out Australia’s Rohan Browning (also 10.16s) via time separation for fourth place. Canada’s Jerome Blake finished sixth in 10.23s, ahead of South Africa’s Tsebo Matsoso (10.32s) and France’s Jimmy Vicaut (10.36s).
Ajayi’s blistering sprint marks his first race since placing fourth at the NCAA Championships in Eugene last month, where he also clocked 9.92s, a performance that firmly established him among the world’s sprint elite.
This repeat performance in France not only confirms his growing consistency but also cements his position among the fastest men in the world this year.
The win ties Ajayi with Seun Ogunkoya and Udodi Onwuzurike for fourth place on Nigeria’s all-time 100m list, behind only Olusoji Fasuba (9.85s), Divine Oduduru (9.86s), and Godson Oghenebrume (9.90s). He now holds two of the five fastest legal times in Nigerian history at just age 20.
Ajayi also joins the ranks of Davidson Ezinwa and Ogunkoya with four career sub-10s, the second most by any Nigerian sprinter.
The Auburn University standout, who won the Nigerian national 100m title in June 2024, made headlines at the 2024 Paris Olympics, reaching the semi-finals in the 100m and contributing to Nigeria’s 4x100m relay performance.
In June 2025 at the African Championships in Douala, Cameroon, he narrowly missed an individual podium spot by finishing fourth, but anchored Nigeria to silver in the 4x100m relay.
Earlier this year, Ajayi posted a 6.48s personal best in the 60m indoor dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships and recorded a 6.52s runner-up finish in Virginia Beach, confirming his all-year-round competitive form.
