Ajayi equals Nigerian 100m record again with Diamond League victory in London
Nigeria’s Kayinsola Ajayi continued his remarkable run of form on Saturday by equalling the national men’s 100 metres record for the third time this season to win the Novuna London Athletics Meet, the 11th stop of the Wanda Diamond League.
The 21-year-old sprinter clocked 9.84 seconds to beat reigning world champion Oblique Seville of Jamaica, who finished second in 9.87 seconds, while fellow Jamaican Romell Glave came third in a personal best of 9.97 seconds.
The victory was Ajayi’s second straight Diamond League win over Seville, having also beaten the Jamaican at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene earlier this month.
With the latest performance, Ajayi has now equalled Nigeria’s 100m record of 9.84 seconds three times this year, having first achieved the feat in Kentucky on May 29 before repeating it in Eugene on July 4 and again in London on July 18.
The London victory caps another milestone in what has been a breakthrough season for the Auburn University athlete, who earlier broke Olusoji Fasuba’s long-standing national record before going on to win the NCAA men’s 100m title.
In the men’s 400m hurdles, Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel placed fourth after clocking 48.30 seconds. Norway’s world record holder Karsten Warholm won the race in a meeting record of 46.61 seconds, ahead of Germany’s Emil Agyekum and Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba.
Ajayi’s latest triumph comes at the good time for Team Nigeria ahead of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where the in-form sprinter is expected to be one of the country’s strongest medal contenders.
