By By Muminat Ajide
Kanyinsola Ajayi and Tejiri Ashe, representing Nigeria, were unable to advance to the final race of the men’s 100 meters at the Paris Olympic Games on Sunday evening.
Both sprinters competed in their respective semifinals at the Stade de France but did not finish among the top two in their races or qualify as the next fastest runners for the final.
Ashe ran in lane 1 of semifinal 1, finishing sixth with a time of 10.08 seconds, placing him 19th overall.
Ajayi competed in lane 6 of semifinal 2, also finishing sixth with a time of 10.13 seconds, placing him 20th overall.
Earlier, Blackbox Nigeria had reported on Ajayi’s performance in the heats, where he finished ahead of reigning Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy, who took second place with 10.05 seconds, and Ghana’s Abdul-Rasheed Saminu in third with 10.06 seconds.
The men’s 100m final later crowned USA’s Noah Lyles as the world’s fastest man, with a photo-finish victory over Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson.
Both athletes finished with a time of 9.79 seconds, with Lyles narrowly edging ahead by 4/1000th of a second. Fred Kerley of the USA took home the bronze medal.
Lyles’ victory marks the first time an American has won the marquee event in Olympic track since Justin Gatlin in 2004.
