Kanyinsola Ajayi Makes History With Bronze in Diamond League 100m Final

Kanyinsola Ajayi capped a remarkable 2026 season by becoming the first Nigerian to win a men’s 100m medal at the Diamond League final after claiming bronze in Brussels on Friday.

The 21-year-old sprinter clocked 9.97 seconds to finish third in the blue-riband event, behind Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, who won in 9.90 seconds, and Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, who took silver in 9.93 seconds.

Ajayi’s historic podium finish adds to a breakthrough season in which he has established himself as one of the fastest young sprinters in the world.

Earlier in the season, he broke Olusoji Fasuba’s two-decade-old Nigerian 100m record with a lifetime best of 9.84 seconds.

He also won a bronze medal for Nigeria in the men’s 100m at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

Ajayi’s impressive campaign began on the collegiate circuit, where he secured NCAA titles in the men’s 60m indoor and 100m outdoor events.

He won the NCAA 100m final in a wind-assisted 9.72 seconds, a performance that placed him joint sixth with Jamaican sprint great Asafa Powell on the all-conditions list of the fastest 100m times in history.

Only Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay, Yohan Blake, Obadele Thompson and Andre De Grasse had recorded faster all-conditions times at the time of the performance.

Although the 9.72-second run was wind-assisted and therefore ineligible as a legal record, Ajayi’s subsequent 9.84-second performance under legal conditions confirmed his rapid rise among the world’s elite sprinters.

His bronze medal in Brussels now gives Nigeria its first-ever men’s 100m podium finish at a Diamond League final.

The achievement provides a fitting conclusion to a season in which Ajayi has broken the national record, collected major international medals and established himself as a leading figure in the next generation of global sprinting.