It was a weekend of near-victories and statement performances for Nigerian athletes at the 2024 SEC Outdoor Championships in Lexington, as Kanyinsola Ajayi and Tima Godbless both claimed silver medals in their respective 100m finals, narrowly missing out on gold.
Kanyinsola Ajayi finished second in the men’s 100m final, running 10.01s—his second-fastest time of the season. He was only bettered by Jordan Anthony, who stormed to victory in 9.95s (0.0 wind), a time that moved him to the top of the NCAA leaderboard.
Ajayi, who has been in solid form this season, held off a strong challenge from the rest of the field, while fellow Nigerian Sunday Israel Okon placed fourth, clocking a season-best 10.07s to narrowly miss out on a podium finish.
Both times were among the fastest seen at the meet, highlighting the growing influence of Nigerian sprinters in NCAA sprinting.
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Tima Godbless came agonisingly close to clinching gold in the women’s 100m, finishing second in a dramatic final where she and JaMeesia Ford were separated by less than a millisecond. Both athletes crossed the line in an identical 11.06s (+0.7), but the official timing revealed Ford had edged the win with 11.055s to Godbless’ 11.057s.
It was Godbless’ first SEC 100m medal.
Long jumper Anthaya Charlton took third in the race with a time of 11.14s.
Godbless returned to the track for the women’s 200m final, where she placed fifth in 22.68s (+1.9), rounding out a busy and productive weekend.
She also anchored Alabama’s 4x100m relay team to silver in 43.02s. The quartet of Linton, Williams, Bigam, and Godbless combined efficiently to finish second and score valuable points for their team.
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