In a stellar display of speed, Israel Olatunde has surpassed his own Irish record for the 100 metres race at the NEB Open gathering in London on a Sunday afternoon, recording an impressive time of 10.12 seconds. This performance from the 22-year-old sprinter from Dublin shaves a significant .05 seconds off his previous best time established two years prior and is comfortably within the legal wind speed limit of 2.0m/s with a reading of 1.7m/s.
Olatunde demonstrated his exceptional talent by outpacing Britain’s own Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (10.14) and Stephen Baffour (10.17). The setting of his previous groundbreaking Irish record was at the 2022 European Championship finals held in Munich, where he finished in sixth place with a time of 10.17 seconds, surpassing the longstanding mark of 10.18 seconds set by Paul Hession in 2007. His current time sets him tantalisingly close to breaking the illustrious 10-second benchmark.
Following a challenging 2023, the athletic sprinter from Tallaght AC has evidently regained his peak performance during this summer, pulling off a victorious comeback to secure the national title in June with a time of 10.27. With a few more contests scheduled before the season concludes, it clear Olatunde is in fine form.