African champion Emmanuel Eseme broke a 28-year-old Games record—and his national record—with a run of 9.83 (+1.3 m/s), to win the men’s 100m gold at the 23rd Commonwealth Games – Glasgow 2026.
Eseme, who won the African Games Accra 2023 100m title in 2024 and the African Championships Accra 2026 earlier in May, struck off Ato Boldon‘s Games record of 9.88 seconds, set in September 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Lachlan Kennedy of Australia also ran under the old Commonwealth Games record, finishing second in 9.85. It’s an Australian record and an Oceania record. NCAA champion Kanyinsola Ajayi of Nigeria runs 9.90 to claim the bronze medal.
South Africa’s Gift Leotlela finished just off the podium in 9.91, becoming the fourth and final sprinter to break 10 seconds in Tuesday’s rain-soaked final at the Scotstoun Stadium, in Glasgow.
“After the semi-finals I got the national record, 9.89, and it was a pretty cool race, very chill. I just said to myself, ‘you may not be the best starter. You may let them go in the first 50 metres, but just keep it, don’t rush anything, execute your race’,” said the 32-year-old sprinter who has jumped to third on the African all-time list.
“Somehow, at the end, I know I’m still going to catch them. Because when I get there and they’re still around me, I know I’m going to catch them. So I just decided to execute my race without falling.”
“You don’t get the opportunity to run on a fast track like this all the time, and when I saw the heats yesterday, I was like, ‘Oh, this is a good one. I better seize this opportunity and make something out of it,'” Eseme added.
Reigning NCAA champion Temitope Adeshina of Nigeria cleared 1.90 metres on her final attempt to win the bronze medal in the women’s high jump final.
Adeshina looks delighted as she bowed out of competition, and the rain, leaving the two Australians, Eleanor Patterson and Nicola Olyslagers, to fight for the title.
The 2022 world champion Patterson eventually won the gold with a Games record of 1.96m for her second title – 12 years after her first at Glasgow 2014.
Yomi is the founder and CEO at AthleticsAfrica Inc. - Africa's premier track and field website. A multi award-winning editor, journalism innovator, media trainer, sports and digital transformation consultant.
