In breaking the school record that had lasted for 20 years, Nigerian sprinter Alaba Akintola, a student at Middle Tennessee State University, ran the 60-meter race on Tuesday in 6.59 seconds.
Akintola started the season off strong at Vanderbilt in the Commodore Challenge by competing in both the 60- and 200-meter races. He won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. He triumphed in both contests and ran a faster 60 meters than before.
Akintola set a new personal best in the 60-meter final with a time of 6.59 seconds, which ranks among the top five times on the 2023 National Collegiate Athletic Association top list. His previous best in the event was 6.67 seconds. It is also Nigeria’s 13th-fastest time ever.
The sprinter from Ondo beat a 20-year-old record held by National Collegiate Athletic Association champion Mardy Scales with a run of 6.59 seconds in the 60-meter competition. This moment is among the Top 5 in the nation and ranks first in C-USA.
Akintola’s outstanding performance in the Commodore Challenge earned him the Conference USA (C-USA) Athlete of the Week honor.
Akintola not only broke a 17-year-old record at the 2022 C-USA indoor Championship, he also ran a 200-meter career-best time of 20.72 seconds, placing him first overall.
The sprinter won both the 60- and 200-meter races at the Samford Bulldog Open in 2022, and with a mark of 21.49 seconds in the 200-meter dash, she is now ranked 14th in the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
The 21-year-old African Youth Games silver medallist placed second in the men’s 200-meter semifinals at the NCAA OTF Outdoor Championship last year with a time of 20.44 seconds. At the NCAA OTF Championships, he also ran 10.25 seconds in the men’s 100-meter semifinals.
He will compete in the Vanderbilt Invitational Championship in Nashville, Tennessee, on January 20 and 21, when he intends to break even more records.
