Chijindu Ujah runs 9.96sec at London Anniversary Games

Ujah can be proud of his performance. The 21-year-old British Champion, who’s coached by Jonas Dodoo, equaled his PB of 9.96sec in the 100m final of the London Anniversary Games; just 0.09sec behind Usain Bolt, the winner of the race.

A more than impressive run, especially since the weather could not have been less conducive to elite-level sprinting. The rain was hammering down and the temperature was barely in the tens.

“My coach told me to be calm and collected and I knew I just had to run the model race,” Chijindu said. “It was amazing to race Bolt but you can’t focus too much on that. At this level you are here for a purpose but it is a great inspiration to run against him – he’s a legend. I wasn’t nervous before but I’m running with a lot more freedom now.

“It’s crazy to run in front of my home crowd,” he added. “I just want to build on this ahead of Beijing. This was my first time running in the stadium so this is all quite new to me – the atmosphere was electric.”