Ultimate Champ: Ajayi finishes 4th as Nathaniel reaches final

File photo: Kanyinsola Ajayi.

Nigerian sprinter, Kanyinsola Ajayi, finished fourth in the men’s 100m final at the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest, Hungary, capping an impressive season with a sub-10-second run, while compatriot Ezekiel Nathaniel booked his place in the final of the men’s 400m hurdles.

Ajayi clocked 9.93 seconds in the final, behind winner Kenneth Bednarek, who ran 9.86 seconds.

The Nigerian had earlier qualified for the final by finishing third in his semi-final in a time of 10.00 seconds, behind Bednarek, who won that heat in 9.94 seconds, and Ronnie Baker, who also ran 10.00 seconds.

The result caps off a breakout season for the 21-year-old Auburn University sprinter, who broke Olusoji Fasuba’s 20-year-old Nigerian 100m record in May, clocking 9.84 seconds at the NCAA East Regionals to become the national record holder and the world leader in the event at the time.

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He went on to win back-to-back Diamond League titles at the Prefontaine Classic and in London, twice defeating reigning world champion Oblique Seville, before claiming bronze in the 100m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with a time of 9.90 seconds, becoming the first Nigerian male sprinter in 20 years to win a Commonwealth Games medal in the event. He added a second bronze in the men’s 4x100m relay at the same Games.

Nathaniel, meanwhile, powered to a second-place finish in heat two of the men’s 400m hurdles semi-final, clocking 47.75 seconds behind Karsten Warholm, who won in 47.68 seconds, to secure his place in the final.

Both results add to what has been a strong campaign for Nigeria at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships, following Tobi Amusan’s silver-medal finish in the women’s 100m hurdles earlier in the competition.

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