Ajayi makes history as world’s second-fastest sprinter

Nigerian sprinter Kanyinsola Ajayi kicked off his outdoor season in impressive style, winning the men’s 100 metres at the 2025 Tom Jones Memorial held in Gainesville, Florida. 

News360 Nigeria reports that the 20-year-old clocked an outstanding 9.96 seconds, boosted by a legal tailwind of +1.9 m/s, to secure the top spot in the race.

This performance marked a new personal best for Ajayi and the fastest time of his career so far. More notably, it positions him as the second-fastest man in the world for 2025.

His time sits just behind South Africa’s Akani Simbine, who ran 9.90 seconds with a -1.4 m/s wind in Gaborone on April 12. Ajayi shares the 9.96 seconds mark with Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake, who ran the same time with a +1.7 m/s wind in Kingston on the same day.

With this achievement, Ajayi has placed himself among the top sprinters globally, edging ahead of other top names like Courtney Lindsey of the USA (9.97s), Bayanda Walaza of South Africa (9.99s), and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala (10.00s).

The field in Gainesville featured some of the brightest collegiate and under-23 talents from the United States. Ajayi finished ahead of LSU’s Jelani Watkins (10.03s), T’Mars McCallum (10.04s), and Kalen Walker (10.06s), all of whom are considered rising stars in American sprinting. The depth of the race added weight to Ajayi’s victory, with all eight finalists posting times under 10.20s. Sam Blaskowski (10.09s), Myles Thomas (10.13s), Xavier Butler (10.15s), and Deron Dudley (10.17s) rounded out a high-quality final.

Ajayi’s performance placed him among the best Nigerian sprinters in history. He is now the 14th Nigerian man to break the 10-second barrier and becomes the 10th fastest Nigerian ever, tied with Raymond Ekevwo who also clocked 9.96s (+1.6 m/s) in 2019. The elite list he joined includes Olusoji Fasuba, Divine Oduduru, Seun Ogunkoya, Davidson Ezinwa, and Favour Ashe.

In the Nigeria’s all-time 100m rankings he joined, Fasuba leads with the national record of 9.85s (Doha 2006), followed by Oduduru’s 9.86s (Austin 2019), and Godson Brume’s 9.90s (Austin 2023). Ajayi’s sub-10 performance, especially as a season opener, suggests potential for deeper cuts into this list as the season progresses.

His result score of 1220 under World Athletics’ performance scoring system speculates the quality of the mark given the wind reading and competitive field as the score matches that of Blake’s 9.96s and surpasses the values given to other sub-10 marks this season. Among under-21 athletes globally in 2025, Ajayi’s time is currently the fastest.