Ajayi and Okon chase historic 100m final berth in Tokyo
Auburn University duo Kanyinsola Ajayi and Isreal Okon are on the brink of history as they gear up for the men’s 100m semifinals at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday night (early afternoon in Nigeria).
The pair are aiming to become only the second Nigerian duo to reach the final of the prestigious sprint event, matching the feat of Deji Aliu and Uchenna Emedolu in Paris back in 2003.
Both athletes will compete in separate semifinal heats, hoping to secure a spot in the final on their World Championships debut.
Ajayi, 20, has been drawn in the first of three semifinal heats, where he faces a formidable lineup including defending champion Noah Lyles, Olympic gold medalist Marcel Lamont Jacobs of Italy, South Africa’s Akani Simbine who is a three-time finalist, and Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu.
With a blistering personal best of 9.88 seconds, just 0.03 shy of Olusoji Fasuba’s national record, Ajayi will be confident in his chances of becoming the first Nigerian to reach the final since Fasuba’s fourth place finish in Osaka in 2007.
For 18-year-old Okon, the challenge is equally steep. He lines up in lane 7 of the third semifinal heat, where he’ll face South Africa’s Gift Leotlela, the fastest man from the first round with a 9.87 PB, Olympic 200m champion and 2023 silver medalist Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, and USA’s Courtney Lindsey.
A sub-10 second run. his first ever. will likely be required to punch his ticket to the final.
If Ajayi and Okon succeed, they’ll etch their names into Nigerian sprinting history as the second pair to contest a World Championships 100m final, a milestone over two decades in the making.
