Nigerian sprint sensation Kanyinsola Ajayi continued his brilliant 2025 form on Monday night, storming to a personal best-equalling 9.92 seconds to claim victory in the men’s 100m at the Meeting International de Sotteville-lès-Rouen in France.
Running from lane five at the Stade Jean Adret, the 20-year-old exploded out of the blocks with a reaction time of 0.156s, comfortably defeating a loaded field that featured five sub-10 second athletes. His time not only equaled his personal best but also shattered the meet record of 10.02s set by Trinidad and Tobago’s Keston Bledman in 2015.
Ajayi’s winning time was aided by a legal +1.7 m/s tailwind and confirmed his growing stature on the global sprinting stage.
Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme finished second in 10.04s, while Senegal’s Mamadou Sarr came in third with a time of 10.10s. Rounding out the top five were Great Britain’s Eugene Amo-Dadzie and Australia’s Rohan Browning, both clocking 10.16s, with Amo-Dadzie narrowly ahead on time separation.
Canada’s Jerome Blake (10.23s), South Africa’s Tsebo Matsoso (10.32s), and French veteran Jimmy Vicaut (10.36s) completed the field.
The win marks Ajayi’s first race since finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships in Eugene last month, where he also posted a 9.92s — his first career sub-10 clocking.
This latest performance further solidifies his status among the world’s elite sprinters in 2025 and places him in a tie for fourth on Nigeria’s all-time 100m list, alongside 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 owns two of the five fastest legal times in Nigerian history, both achieved at age 20. He also joins Ogunkoya and Davidson Ezinwa as one of just three Nigerians with at least four career sub-10 performances — the second-most ever by a Nigerian sprinter.
Ajayi, who clinched the Nigerian national title in June, also impressed at the African Championships in Cameroon, narrowly missing a medal in the 100m but anchoring Nigeria to silver in the 4x100m relay.
Earlier this year, he impressed indoors with a 6.48s PB over 60m at the NCAA Indoor Championships, followed by a 6.52s in Virginia Beach.
With the Olympic Games in Paris on the horizon — where he reached the 100m semifinals and gained valuable 4x100m relay experience — Kanyinsola Ajayi has confirmed himself as one of Nigeria’s most exciting sprint prospects in years.
