By Andrew Abah
Nigeria’s presence at the ongoing 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo was strongly felt on Day 1, as rising sprint stars Kayinsola Ajayi and Israel Okon Sunday delivered electrifying performances to book their spots in the men’s 100m semifinals.
On his World Championships debut, Ajayi produced one of the standout moments of the night, clocking a blistering 9.88s in his heat to smash his Personal Best (PB).
In doing so, he became the third-fastest Nigerian sprinter of all time behind Olusoji Fasuba (9.85s) and Divine Oduduru (9.86s). The 21-year-old has also etched his name further in history, recording five sub-10s this season, the most by any Nigerian in a single year, and tying the all-time national record for most sub-10s in a career.
Ajayi placed second in his heat behind South Africa’s Gift Leotlela, who also set a new PB of 9.87s, with Jamaica’s Oblique Seville taking third in 9.93s.
Meanwhile, debutant Israel Okon Sunday showed remarkable composure in his first senior global outing, storming to victory in his heat with a time of 10.04s. Okon crossed the line ahead of Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes (10.06s) and reigning Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs (10.20s), who won gold at the same venue four years ago.
The men’s 100m semifinals are set to be a thriller, with Ajayi lining up against Noah Lyles, Akani Simbine, Ackeem Blake, and Jacobs in Semi 1, while Okon faces Oblique Seville, Letsile Tebogo, Leotlela, Courtney Lindsey, Abdul-Rasheed Saminu, Romell Glave, and Andre De Grasse in Semi 3.
In the field events, Nigeria’s Shot Put record-holder Chukwuebuka Enekwechi also impressed, advancing to the finals after throwing 20.83m in qualification.
In the final, Enekwechi battled bravely and narrowly missed out on a historic medal, placing 5th overall with a best effort of 21.52m in the sixth round.
