Team Nigeria’s sprinters are in for a tough day today as they face some of the world’s best runners at the ongoing 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

United States-based speed star Kanyinsola Ajayi will face defending Commonwealth Games champion and African record holder, Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, in a blockbuster men’s 100m semifinal today.

Ajayi, who owns a personal and season’s best of 9.84 seconds, has been drawn in lane four of the second semifinal, alongside Omanyala, who holds the African record of 9.77 seconds.

The Kenyan enters the race with a 9.94-second season’s best. Ghana’s Abdul-Rasheed Saminu, who has a personal best of 9.84 seconds, will also line up in the same heat, while South Africa’s Bradley Nkoana and Australia’s Rohan Browning add further quality to a highly competitive field.

Only the first two athletes in each semifinal will qualify automatically for the final, with the next two fastest athletes across all three heats also advancing.

Reigning Nigerian champion Favour Ashe faces another difficult challenge in the opening semifinal.

The 9.93-second sprinter will line up against Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati, who ran a season’s best-equalling 10.00 seconds in the first round, Jamaica’s Rohan Watson, Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme and Australia’s Lachlan Kennedy, who owns a 9.96-second personal best.

Ashe, who clocked 10.10s (+1.5) to win heat 1 of the men’s 100m yesterday, will start from lane six today, with Azamati in lane four and Eseme in lane three. The Nigerian will need to finish among the top two or produce one of the next two fastest times to secure a place in the final.

Adekalu Fakorede will compete in the third semifinal, where he faces a strong field including Canada’s Jerome Blake, Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake and South Africa’s Gift Leotlela.

Fakorede, who has a 9.98-second personal and season’s best, will run from lane four. Jerome Blake has also run 9.93 seconds, while Ackeem Blake boasts a 9.88-second personal best. Leotlela, meanwhile, has a 9.87-second best.

Meanwhile, reigning NCAA 400m indoor and outdoor champion Samuel Ogazi and African 400m indoor record holder Ella Onojuvwevwo will begin their Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games campaigns from the semifinal stage after receiving byes into the next round.

Ogazi, the 2026 world leader with a time of 43.38 seconds, and Onojuvwevwo, who holds the African indoor record, are among the seeded athletes who will join the competition at the semifinal stage as the first round of the men’s and women’s 400m events takes place at Scotstoun Stadium today (Tuesday).

Team Nigeria’s Esther Elo Joseph will compete in the women’s 400m first round at 10:46 a.m. She has a personal and season’s best of 50.97 seconds and has been drawn in lane two of Heat 1, alongside Jamaica’s Shana Kaye Anderson and Botswana’s Obakeng Kamberuka, who also own 50.97-second personal bests.

Joseph will need to finish strongly in a competitive heat as the 18 fastest athletes across the opening round will qualify for the semifinals.

Veteran Patience Okon George will also be in action for Team Nigeria in the women’s 400m first round.

In the men’s event, Edidiong Okon Udo will compete in the first round and has been drawn in Heat 1. He will face athletes from Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Yesterday, one of the Invited Junior Athletes (IJA) athletes in Nigeria’s squad, Miracle Ezechukwu, made a brilliant start to her Commonwealth Games campaign, powering to victory in her women’s 100m heat with a composed 11.32s (-1.5) from Lane 8.

She crossed the line ahead of Kishawna Niles (11.52s) and Deborah Acheampong (11.66s) to secure her place in tomorrow’s semi-final.

Although it was not the finish she would have wanted, hammer thrower Sade Olatoye
fouled twice in three attempts, thereby making qualification into the final more difficult.