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Benjamin Azamati (left)
Benjamin Azamati (left)

Benjamin Azamati sets new 100m national record: Named top collegiate athlete

Ghana's top sprinter Benjamin Azamati set a new national men's 100 metres record with a new mark of 9.90 seconds at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays last Friday.


In setting a new National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II record, Azamati’s wind-legal 9.90 performance (2.0m/s) equalled the fourth-fastest mark in collegiate athletics history, regardless of division. He is one of the fastest athletes in the United States (US) collegiate history and his time matches Nigerian Davidson Ezinwa of Azusa Pacific University's mark in 1992.

Exactly one year ago, 24-year-old Azamati, running for West Texas A&M University, went 9.97 seconds at the same meet to become the fastest Ghanaian athlete, obliterating a 22-year-old record held by Leonard Myles-Mills. He demolished a 38-year-old NCAA Division II record formerly held by Darrell Green. Before the season was over, Azamati owned the five fastest marks in NCAA Division II history.

Two days before his record run, the Olympian was named the Lone Star Conference Male Track Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season, following his performance at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships.  

Azamati becomes the first student-athlete since 2017 to earn the award in consecutive seasons. The sophomore, a native of Akim Oda in Ghana, tallied 18 points at the 2022 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships, winning the 60m (6.63 seconds) for the second time while finishing runner-up in the 200 (21.32 seconds).

He matched the all-time Division II 60m record (6.54sec) and ran the second-best Division II time in the 200m (20.57sec) during the season. Azamati was also named the 2022 USTFCCCA South Central Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year for the second straight year.

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