Ultimate Championships: Ajayi finishes as fastest African in 100m final, wins $25,000

Nigeria’s Kayinsola Ajayi narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the men’s 100m at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Saturday, but emerged as the fastest African in a high-quality final.

Ajayi clocked 9.93 seconds to finish fourth, recording the same time as American Ronnie Baker, who secured the bronze medal on the basis of the photo finish.

According to the breakdown of the prize monies, Ajayi will be taking home $25,000 for his efforts.

American Kenny Bednarek won the title in 9.85 seconds, while Jamaica’s Oblique Seville finished second in 9.90 seconds.

Christian Coleman of the United States was fifth in 9.94 seconds, followed by South Africa’s Gift Leotlela in 9.98 seconds. Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana was seventh in 10.07 seconds, while Akani Simbine finished eighth in 10.09 seconds.

The result continued Ajayi’s rapid rise among the world’s elite sprinters and gave Nigeria a place in the final of the prestigious season-ending championship.

Ajayi makes another major final

Ajayi had earlier secured his place in the final after finishing among the qualifiers in the semi-finals.

His appearance in the final added another significant chapter to a breakthrough 2026 season that has seen him establish himself as one of the leading sprinters in the world.

The 21-year-old holds the Nigerian 100m record of 9.84 seconds and is ranked fourth in the world in the event, according to World Athletics.

Ajayi also won bronze in the 100m at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, clocking 9.90 seconds in the final behind Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme and Australia’s Lachlan Kennedy.

His international breakthrough continued at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in 2025, where he reached the 100m final and finished sixth in 10.00 seconds after running 9.93 seconds in his semi-final.

The Budapest final therefore represented another opportunity for the Nigerian to test himself against the strongest sprinters in the world.

Nathaniel also reaches final

Nigeria also had another finalist in Ezekiel Nathaniel, who qualified for the men’s 400m hurdles final after finishing second in his semi-final behind Norwegian world record holder Karsten Warholm.

Nathaniel clocked 47.75 seconds, while Warholm won the heat in 47.68 seconds.

The Nigerian hurdler’s progress adds to an encouraging season in which he has continued to establish himself among Africa’s leading 400m hurdlers.

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$10 million prize pool

The World Athletics Ultimate Championship brought together Olympic champions, world champions, Diamond League winners and other leading performers from the 2026 season.

The inaugural championship, being held at Budapest’s National Athletics Centre from 11 to 13 September, features 381 athletes from 65 federations competing across 28 disciplines.

World Athletics has put up a record $10 million prize fund for the championship, with individual event winners earning $150,000.

For Ajayi, the fourth-place finish may not have delivered the medal he wanted, but it further underlines how far the young Nigerian has come in a season that has seen him break records, win major titles and establish himself among the world’s fastest sprinters.