Ajayi, Ezekiel Set for 2026 Outdoor Debuts at Tom Jones Memorial

All eyes will be on Kanyinsola Ajayi as he makes his 2026 outdoor debut after making history indoors as the first Nigerian male student athlete to win the NCAA 60m indoor title.

Expectations are high, especially after he scorched to a 6.45 seconds Nigerian record in the 60m on his way to NCAA glory last month.

Ajayi will be competing in the 100m event at the meeting holding at the Percy Beard Track in Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday.

Ajayi, 21, has been drawn in lane 5 of the first of four heats with his Auburn University schoolmate, Israel Okon, who made a statement in his 2025 outdoor debut on Friday with a 20.27 200m run, drawn outside in lane six.

Olaolu Olatunde, who failed to finish in the 200m event on Friday, will run from lane 3 in the same heat.

In the following heat, Minnesota freshman John Caleb will run from lane 1, with Mississippi State University sophomore Adekalu Fakorede drawn in lane six.

Charles Godfred, who hit the 8m mark (8.08m) on Friday for the third straight year, is drawn in lane 3 in the third heat.

In the women’s 100m Olympic Development race, Success Umukoro is slated to compete and has been drawn in lane 7 of the third of four heats.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel Ezekiel will also make his 2026 debut at the Tom Jones Memorial in Florida. Africa’s second fastest man ever over the 400m hurdles, Ezekiel will compete in the 400m flat.

The 22-year-old, who will be 23 in June, has not raced since September 2025 when he ran a new 47.11 Nigerian record, just one-hundredth of a second shy of the 47.10 African record set by Zambian Samuel Matete in August 1991.

Nathaniel, who finished fourth at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, last year, holds a 44.74 personal best in the 400m and will be seeking to lay down the gauntlet ahead of the Diamond League season, which starts next month with the opening two legs in China.

Nathaniel has been drawn in lane six of heat 1 in the men’s 400m Olympic Development race. He will also have fellow 400m hurdles runner Alison dos Santos in the lineup.

Also billed to run, this time in the men’s 400m invite, is Edidiong Udo, who has been drawn in lane three of the first of six heats.