At just 22 years of age, Chijindu Ujah has established himself as Britain’s fastest man over 100m in 2014, 2015 and at the Loughborough International on 22nd May, rose to the top of the rankings with a 10.06 clocking for 2016, still a tenth of a second outside his personal best of 9.96 seconds.
Perhaps the reason for his rise this year could be due to the fact that he has run the 100m seven times already this season, more than most of his closest rivals. Ujah’s 10.06 clocking comes just 2 days after his wind assisted 10.15 time at the Great City Games in Manchester’s city centre where he was beaten by St. Kitts and Nevis veteran Kim Collins and rising star, Trayvon Bromell of the US.
2 days does not seem like enough to run at one’s fastest, so is it possible that Ujah was taking it easy in Manchester before he let loose at Loughborough? After Sean Safo-Antwi’s 3rd place finish in the 60m at the British Indoor Championships, he admitted that “it takes ten days to get a PB out your legs.” This idea of a ten day taper to peak in competitions comes from Charlie Francis who coached former disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson.
Prior to his races in Manchester and Loughborough, Ujah set a new record of 10.17 seconds at the 2016 British University Championships representing Middlesex University. After the race he told Athletics Weekly “It’s alright but there’s a lot more in the tank.” In addition, Ujah took the Active Newham Open series and has been anything but “race rusty” a term used by Usain Bolt after his season opener of 10.05, a hundredth of a second quicker than Ujah’s season’s best, but it’s all relative.
That being said, if Ujah can get a PB out, then he’ll be in the company of Femi Ogunode, Justin Gatlin and Yohan Blake who are the only athletes in 2016 to have run faster than Ujah’s best time of 9.96, but have all tested positive for banned substances.
One of Ujah’s closest competitors in the 100m is likely to be Adam Gemili who ran 9.97 seconds last year before sustaining a hamstring injury and agonisingly had to sit out at the World Championships in Beijing. Gemili by contrast is yet to open his outdoor season though is expected to run at the Birmingham Diamond League on 5th June 2016. Another rival to Ujah comes in the form of James Dasaolu, who was edged out by Ujah in Loughborough, a psychological boost against Dasaolu who has struggled to build on his 9.91 time he recorded at the British Championships in 2013.
Surprise package Nethaneel Mitchel-Blake has also run 10.09 this year, but after bursting on to the scene with his shock 19.95 200m, the Louisiana State University student is likely to have a go at the 200m. In fact, both Gemili who competed in the 2013 World Championship 200m final in Moscow and Zharnel Hughes who competed in the 2015 World Championship final in Beijing will probably fancy their chances in the 200m too.
One can also not write off Richard Kilty who, at the Jablonec Indoor Gala this year, ran the fastest 60m in Europe in 6.50 seconds this year alongside fellow Brit Theo Etienne. Kilty was also beaten by Ujah at the Great City Games but we are still yet to see whether he will be a serious challenge. In spite of this, I’m putting my money on Ujah to shine in Rio, though a medal might just be out of grasp.
Champion Sprints 