Ajayi and Ogazi Shine at NCAA Championships

Nigerian athletes Kayinsola Ajayi and Samuel Ogazi won the men’s 100m and 400m titles at the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Championships. This event took place early Friday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, USA, according to PUNCH Online.

Ajayi, who runs for Auburn University, won the men’s 100m in an impressive time of 9.72 seconds, aided by a favorable wind.

This time would have set a new African record of 9.77 seconds held by Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala. But the wind speed of +2.2m/s made it ineligible for record purposes.

At just 21 years old, this is Ajayi’s first NCAA outdoor title. He finished fourth in the same event last year. With this win, he becomes the first Nigerian to take the NCAA men’s 100m title since Divine Oduduru did it in 2019.

Ajayi showed his strength in the final, pulling ahead in the last moments of the race. LSU’s Jaiden Reid came in second with a time of 9.82 seconds, while Arkansas’ Jelani Watkins took third place.

Earlier in the week, Ajayi had a slow start in the semi-final on Wednesday, but he won that race in 9.94 seconds (-1.1m/s). Reid matched the Cayman Islands national record with a time of 9.95 seconds.

Though Ajayi’s 9.72 seconds won’t count as an official record, it is still one of the fastest times ever recorded. This result shows that he is one of the top sprinters in the world this season.

In the men’s 400m, Ogazi defended his NCAA title with an outstanding time of 43.38 seconds. This run not only won the race but also set a new national and collegiate record.

Ogazi broke the previous NCAA record of 43.61 seconds set by American Michael Norman in 2018. This performance puts Ogazi in fourth place on the all-time world list.

Only South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk, Michael Johnson, and Butch Reynolds have better times than him.

The 20-year-old improved on his earlier personal best of 44.02 seconds, which he achieved in May during Alabama’s regular-season finale against Georgia.

That time of 44.02 seconds had already broken Innocent Egbunike’s long-standing Nigerian record of 44.17 seconds. Egbunike’s record had stood since August 1987, so Ogazi’s achievement ended a 38-year wait for a new national benchmark in the event.

Meanwhile, Ajayi’s teammate at Auburn, Israel Okon, bounced back after a tough 100m race where he finished ninth. He showed great form in the 200m, finishing second in 19.99 seconds. This was his best result at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.