Nigeria’s athletics team endured a difficult rainy evening at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Tuesday as Kanyinsola Ajayi and Temitope Adeshina both claimed bronze medals in their respective events.
Ajayi made history by becoming the first Nigerian male sprinter in 20 years to win a Commonwealth Games 100m medal, finishing third in a high-quality final in 9.90 seconds.
The last Nigerian man to stand on the Commonwealth Games 100m podium was Olusoji Fasuba, who won silver at the 2006 Games in Melbourne.
Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme stormed to gold in a Games record of 9.83 seconds, while Australia’s Lachlan Kennedy claimed silver in a personal best of 9.85 seconds. Ajayi held off South Africa’s Gift Leotlela, who finished fourth in 9.91 seconds.
The bronze medal was somewhat of an anticlimax for the 20-year-old, who had earlier won his semi-final in 9.94 seconds despite drizzling rain, qualifying comfortably for the final.
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There was also something to cheer for Team Nigeria in the women’s high jump, where Temitope Adeshina cleared 1.90m to secure another bronze medal.
The Nigerian finished behind Australia’s Eleanor Patterson and Nicola Olyslagers, who both cleared 1.93m, but Adeshina showed remarkable progress by improving on her 10th-place finish at her Commonwealth Games debut four years ago.
The double podium finish adds to Nigeria’s growing medal haul after an impressive opening four days dominated by para powerlifting and weightlifting.
Tunde Eludini
Tunde Eludini is a graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria where he studied International Relations. He is a Senior Correspondent coordinating the sports section for PREMIUM TIMES. Twitter: @tundeyeludini
