PHOTO CREDIT: Punch Newspapers / Making of Champions
Ajayi Targets $150,000 Jackpot at World Athletics Ultimate Championship

Nigeria’s sprint sensation, Kayinsola Ajayi, will be looking to end his breakthrough season on a high with the biggest payday of his career as he competes in the men’s 100m at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest today.

The championship is the richest in athletics history, with a total prize pot of $10 million. Winners of each individual event will go home with $150,000, while second and third place will earn $75,000 and $40,000 respectively. Relay winners will share $80,000.

Ajayi has been drawn in the second semi-final today alongside a stacked field including Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake, Italy’s 2020 Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs, South Africa’s Akani Simbine, USA’s Kenneth Bednarek, Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, Colombia’s Ronal Longa and USA’s Ronnie Baker. The first four from each semi-final will advance to the final just over an hour later.

Speaking ahead of the race, the Nigerian said he is ready to give it his all:
“Money on the line, last race of the season, you are going all out without leaving any gaps,” Ajayi told Making of Champions in Budapest on Friday.
The 21-year-old enters the championship as the fourth-fastest man in the world this year behind Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, Noah Lyles and Bednarek, and has built an exciting rivalry with Seville after beating him twice on the Diamond League circuit this season.

Ajayi has been in sensational form this year, breaking Olusoji Fasuba’s 20-year-old Nigerian record of 9.85s with a new national record of 9.84s at the 2026 NCAA Division I East First Round in May. He went on to win the NCAA outdoor 100m title, equalled his national record twice, claimed two Diamond League victories, and won bronze at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

He will also be aiming for another sub-10 second run in Budapest, having already achieved the feat 15 times in his young career.
SOURCE: Punch Newspapers