Nigerian sprinter, Sunday Israel Okon clocked a rapid new personal best and African U20 record of 6.52s to win his 60m semifinal at Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson.
The former Commonwealth Junior champion is second on the all-time world list for U-20s over 60m.
Meanwhile, Israel Sunday Okon was just 0.01s away from breaking Mark Lewis-Francis’ World U-20 Record.
What Israel Okon Time Means
6.52s
Number two in the World U-20 All-Time list
Broke The African U-20 Record.
Furthermore, the time sets a new African U-20 Record beating the 6.57s set by Caleb Joshua in January 2025.
Consequently, Israel Okon now holds the fastest Nigerian time in the 60m with Caleb Joshua in the second spot on the list.
Joshua Caleb (Alaska-Anchorage) ran 6.57(rounded to 6.59) seconds to win the Men’s 60m at the Nevada Silver and Blue Invite early in January.
Early in January, Caleb broke the African U20 record set by Ibrahim Meite in 1994.
Also, the time puts Okon as the 3rd fastest man ever for Auburn, with three Nigerians occupying the top spots – Favour Ashe (6.51) & Kanyinsola Ajayi (6.51).
Behind Okon, Fakorede Nicholas also ran a personal best of 6.58s, further solidifying his spot as Mississippi State University’s second-fastest man ever.