Nigerian sprint sensation Kanyinsola Ajayi has once again electrified the track world, clocking a blistering 9.92 seconds to win the men’s 100m at the Meeting International Sotteville-lès-Rouen in France on Monday evening, July 7, 2025.
The 20-year-old exploded from lane five at the Stade Jean Adret, registering a reaction time of 0.156 seconds and leaving behind a stacked field that included five sub-10-second runners. His performance shattered the previous meet record of 10.02s, held by Trinidad and Tobago’s Keston Bledman since 2015.
🥇 Final Results:
- Kanyinsola Ajayi (Nigeria): 9.92s
- Emmanuel Eseme (Cameroon): 10.04s
- Mamadou Sarr (Senegal): 10.10s
- Eugene Amo-Dadzie (Great Britain): 10.16s
- Rohan Browning (Australia): 10.16s
- Jerome Blake (Canada): 10.23s
- Tsebo Matsoso (South Africa): 10.32s
- Jimmy Vicaut (France): 10.36s
Ajayi’s time ties his personal best and places him fourth on Nigeria’s all-time list, alongside Seun Ogunkoya and Udodi Onwuzurike. Only Soji Fasuba (9.85s), Divine Oduduru (9.86s), and Godson Oghenebrume (9.90s) have run faster.
This marks Ajayi’s second sub-10 run of the season, following his breakout performance at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon. He also reached the semi-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics and anchored Nigeria’s 4x100m relay team to silver at the African Championships earlier this year.
With the World Championships in Tokyo looming this September, Ajayi’s consistency and explosive form are fueling hopes that Nigeria may finally return to the 100m final after an 18-year drought.
