Kanyinsola Ajayi of Team Nigeria, making his Olympic debut, has qualified for the semi-final stage of the men’s 100m event at the ongoing Olympic Games in Paris.
The 19-year-old sprinter came through Heat 5 in a time of 10.02 seconds, winning ahead of Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy who ended second in 10.05 seconds.
Another African, Abdul-Rasheed Saminu of Ghana, ended the heat in third place, coming in with a time of 10.06s in a keenly contested race.
With the win, Ajayi has been drawn in Heat 2 of the semis where he will be facing off against USA’s Kenneth Bednarek, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and South Africa’s Akani Simbine.