Athletics
Meet Jared Ejiasan, Nigeria’s New World Record Holder
On a cold February evening in France, history leaned forward—and a 16-year-old Nigerian answered the call.
The blocks were set inside the Stade Couvert Jesse Owens. The crowd murmured. The clock waited. When the gun cracked on February 21, 2026,
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Jared Ejiasan surged from stillness into legend, slicing over ten barriers with a rhythm so clean it felt inevitable.
7.43 seconds. A blink. A gasp. A new U18 world record in the men’s 60m hurdles.
With that run, Ejiasan erased a mark that had stood since 2019—7.48 seconds by France’s Sasha Zhoya—and stepped past every teenage hurdler before him.
For Nigeria, it was a moment of pride. For winter sports, a reminder that greatness can arrive without warning—and leave the world changed.
Born in Nigeria in 2009 and raised in France from infancy, Ejiasan has always lived between places, carrying two stories in one stride.
He competes for the French club AC Nord Val d’Oise, but when it comes to international colours, his heart beats green and white.
The record did not come from nowhere in January 2026 had already hinted at what was coming, when he blazed 7.57 seconds—an African U18 record.
February simply confirmed the truth: this was no surge of form, but the unveiling of a star.
A Hurdler—And More
What makes Ejiasan’s rise even more compelling is his range. Beyond the hurdles, he floats through the air as a long jumper, owning a 7.46m personal best set in 2025.
Power and poetry, speed and spring—his athletic vocabulary keeps expanding.
Now, the official rankings agree. His name sits atop the World Athletics lists as the world leader in the U18 60m hurdles.
At 16, he has already turned potential into permanence.
The Road Ahead
Winter Sports 2026 will be remembered as the season a Nigerian teenager outran time itself.
Outdoors await. Bigger championships beckon.
And somewhere beyond the next start line, new records are already nervous.
For now, one truth stands tall:
Jared Ejiasan didn’t just run a race—he announced a future.
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