Ghanaian sprinter, Abdul-Rasheed Saminu delivered a strong performance in the men’s 100m at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday, September 13, 2025, finishing second in Heat 7 with a time of 10.09 seconds. 

His confident run, coupled with a reaction time of 0.188 seconds, secured him an automatic spot in the semi-finals.

South Africa’s Akani Simbine, one of Africa’s most seasoned sprinters, won the heat with a time of 10.02 seconds. 

Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala took third place in 10.12 seconds, clinching the final automatic qualifying position for the next round of the championships.

Saminu’s time placed him ahead of several strong competitors, including Elvis Afrifa of the Netherlands, who finished fourth in 10.15 seconds, China’s Xinrui Deng (10.23s), and Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, who clocked 10.24 seconds. 

The heat also featured Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, who finished seventh with a time of 10.37 seconds, and Iraq’s Saif Al RamMahi, who completed the field in 10.58 seconds. Despite their efforts, they were unable to keep pace with the top finishers.

Benjamin Azamati

Meanwhile, Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati missed out on qualifying to the semi-finals of the competition in Tokyo.

Running in Lane 6 in the fifth of seven heats in the Men’s 100 Metre event, the former national record holder for Ghana finished in sixth place in a time of 10.30 seconds.

The top three sprinters in each heat qualify to the semifinals automatically and defending World Silver medalist Letsile Tebogo won the Heat in a time of 10.07 seconds.

Veteran Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse finished second with a time of 10.16 seconds while American Courtney Lindsey finished third in a time of 10.19 seconds.

Azamati is part of Ghana’s 4x 100 Metre Relay Team and gets to compete on September 20 at 20:25 GMT.