Four Nigerian athletes have set new national records during the 2026 athletics season, producing standout performances across track and field events.

Kanyinsola Ajayi led the record-breaking performances after setting new Nigerian records in both the 60 metres and 100 metres.

On February 26, Ajayi clocked 6.45 seconds in the 60 metres indoors, establishing a new Nigerian national record and an African indoor record.

He later ran 9.84 seconds in the 100 metres at the NCAA East Preliminaries in Lexington, Kentucky, on May 30. The performance erased Olusoji Fasuba’s 20-year-old Nigerian record of 9.85 seconds, set in 2006.

Samuel Ogazi also enjoyed a record-breaking season in the 400 metres. On March 14, he ran 44.57 seconds at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships to set new Nigerian and African indoor records.

Ogazi then produced a 43.38-second run at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on June 12, breaking the Nigerian national record and winning the NCAA title.

In the decathlon, Jami Schlueter scored 8,024 points on June 7 to become the first athlete representing Nigeria to surpass 8,000 points in the event. His performance also established a new Nigerian national record.

Chinecherem Nnamdi completed the quartet of record-breakers with an 84.68-metre throw in the javelin at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida, on April 17.

The throw improved Nnamdi’s own Nigerian national record by almost two metres and further strengthened his position among Africa’s leading javelin throwers.

The performances have given Nigerian athletics several new national benchmarks across sprinting, middle-distance running, combined events and field competition during the 2026 season.