Nigerian sprint sensation Kanyinsola Ajayi continued his stellar season with a commanding performance at the Meeting International Sotteville-lès-Rouen in France on Monday evening, equalling his personal best of 9.92 seconds to win the men’s 100m and set a new meet record.
Racing out of lane five at Stade Jean Adret, the 20-year-old clocked a reaction time of 0.156 seconds and powered past a competitive field that featured five athletes with sub-10-second credentials. His time, aided by a legal tailwind of +1.7 m/s, erased the previous meet record of 10.02s set by Trinidad and Tobago’s Keston Bledman in 2015.
Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme finished second in 10.04s, while Mamadou Sarr of Senegal secured third in 10.10s. British sprinter Eugene Amo-Dadzie and Australia’s Rohan Browning followed closely, both clocking 10.16s, with Amo-Dadzie finishing slightly ahead. Other competitors included Canada’s Jerome Blake (10.23s), South Africa’s Tsebo Matsoso (10.32s), and France’s Jimmy Vicaut (10.36s).
The race marked Ajayi’s first appearance since placing fourth at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, where he also clocked 9.92s—his initial breakthrough into the elite sprinting tier.
Ajayi now shares the fourth-fastest time in Nigerian history with Seun Ogunkoya and Udodi Onwuzurike, behind Olusoji Fasuba (9.85s), Divine Oduduru (9.86s), and Godson Oghenebrume (9.90s). The Auburn University standout has also joined the ranks of Nigerian legends Davidson Ezinwa and Ogunkoya with four sub-10 performances, the second most by any Nigerian sprinter.
Earlier this season, he claimed the Nigerian national 100m title in June 2024 and reached the semi-finals of the men’s 100m at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, also competing in the 4x100m relay. At the African Championships in Douala, Ajayi placed fourth individually but anchored Nigeria to silver in the relay event.
He also impressed during the indoor season, posting a personal best of 6.48s over 60m at the NCAA Indoor Championships and finishing second in Virginia Beach with 6.52s.
