Ajayi chases $150k prize at Budapest World Athletics Ultimate Championship
Breaking: Nigerian sprinter Kayinsola Ajayi lines up in the men’s 100m semi-finals at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest today, Saturday, September 12, 2026, with a $150,000 prize awaiting the winner. The championship features a record $10 million prize pool, the richest in athletics history, offering $75,000 for second place and $40,000 for third.
Ajayi, the fourth-fastest man in the 100m this year behind Oblique Seville, Noah Lyles and Kenneth Bednarek, aims to add another sub-10-second clocking to his career. He holds the Nigerian record of 9.84 seconds set in May 2026, has won two Diamond League races this season and took bronze at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. His emerging rivalry with Seville—whom he has beaten twice on the Diamond League circuit—adds extra stakes, as only the top four from each semi‑final advance to the final, which runs just over an hour after the semis.
With money on the line and the season’s last race approaching, will Ajayi’s rivalry with Seville finally tilt in his favor, or will Budapest deliver another surprise?