Nigerian sprinter Ajayi to run 100m in Hungary for $150,000
Nigerian sprinter Kayinsola Ajayi will compete in the 100 metres at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary. The winner of each individual event will receive $150,000. As Premium Times Nigeria reports, the tournament’s total prize fund stands at a record $10 million for athletics.
Semifinal lineup
The 21-year-old Ajayi will compete in the second semifinal. He will run alongside Ackeem Blake, 2020 Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs, South African Akani Simbine, American Kenneth Bednarek, African champion Emmanuel Eseme of Cameroon, Colombia’s Ronal Longa and Ronnie Baker.
The top four athletes from each semifinal will advance to the final. The decisive race is scheduled a little more than an hour after the semifinals. The silver medalist in an individual event will receive $75,000, the bronze medalist $40,000, while the winning relay team will split $80,000.
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Season results
Ajayi enters the competition as the fourth-fastest 100m runner this year, behind Oblique Seville, Noah Lyles and Bednarek. The Nigerian defeated Seville twice at Diamond League meets this season, but the Jamaican sprinter beat him in the series final in Brussels.
In May, Ajayi ran the 100 metres in 9.84 seconds at the NCAA Division I East First Round qualifying event in the United States, setting a Nigerian record. He bettered the mark of Olusoji Fasuba, which had stood for 20 years, by one hundredth of a second. Ajayi subsequently equaled the national record twice more, won the outdoor NCAA title and secured two Diamond League victories. At the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, he won bronze in the 100 metres.
