In a remarkable debut at the Olympic Games, Nigeria’s Kanyinsola Ajayi has advanced to the semifinals of the men’s 100m event, winning heat 5 with a time of 10.02s (-0.3).
This impressive performance broke Davidson Ezinwa’s record for the fastest opening round time by a Nigerian at the Games (10.03s).
Ajayi, just 19 years old, outran Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy, who finished second in 10.05s, and Ghana’s Abdul-Rasheed Saminu, who took third place in 10.06s.
With his lifetime best of 10.00 seconds, Ajayi is edging closer to the coveted sub-10s mark.
Other heats
In other heats, Jamaica’s Oblique Seville won heat 4 with a time of 9.99s, while Great Britain’s Louie Hinchliffe made history as the first athlete to go under 10s in this year’s competition, winning heat 3 in 9.98s.
Noah Lyles, despite an unscripted performance, progressed to the semifinals, finishing second in his heat behind Hinchliffe.
Another Nigerian, Favour Ashe, also a student at Auburn University in the USA, finished fourth in his heat with a time of 10.16s and must await confirmation as a non-automatic qualifier.
Ajayi will be joined in the semifinals by other top athletes, including South Africa’s Akani Simbine and USA’s Kenny Bednarek, who won their respective heats.
More details later