Debutants Ajayi, Okon sprint to semis at World Athletics Champs in Tokyo
By Uzor Odigbo
Semifinals of the men’s 100 meters at the 2025 World Athletics Championships will feature two Nigerians making their debut in the championship
Kayinsola Ajayi and Sunday Israel Okon ran fantastic races in two heats on Saturday to sound a note of warning to their counterparts in tomorrow’s outing.
Ajayi ran a controlled race, easing off in the last few meters to break his Personal Best with an impressive time of 9.88secs.
His timing makes him the 3rd fastest Nigerian sprinter of all time in the process.
Ajayi now holds the record for the most sub-10secs clocked by a Nigerian in a single season, having broken the barrier five times in 2025.
Ajayi’s Olympic experiences last year may have helped his nerves in Tokyo, however, this was Okon’s first major global competition in the senior ranks and he didn’t let inexperience get the better of him as he bossed the field like a veteran.
Maintaining composure all through the race, he coasted to win in a notable time of 10.04secs over Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain who pushed hard in the closing phase to grab the second automatic spot.
The men’s 100 meter Semifinal and Final will come up tomorrow at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.
Meanwhile, former world and Olympic medallist Ese Brume of Nigeria finished 19th with a best of 6.46 meters in the women’s long jump to miss out on the final.
Last November, she survived a serious car accident in the United States that left her in a neck brace for months.
