Ajomale

On paper, Bolade Ajomale wasn’t supposed to make the 100-metre final at the 2016 Canadian Track & Field Championships & Olympic Trials. What he did on that day would turn into an Olympic medal, just weeks later.

At Trials in Edmonton, he achieved a personal best 10.15 seconds in the preliminaries, which put him under the Olympic entry standard for the 100 metres. He went on to finish fourth in the final, earning his way onto the Rio 2016 4x100-metre relay team.

In Rio, he ran the anchor leg for the relay during the first-round heats, helping Canada advance to the final. He then watched as the Canadian men ran a national record time in the final to win the bronze medal, which he would share with the team.

Ajomale competed at his first World Athletics Championships in 2017, again with the 4x100-metre relay team, helping them to a sixth-place finish. He won gold with the 4x100-metre relay team at the 2018 NACAC Championships. He ran the 100 metres and the 4x100-metre relay for Canada at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, finishing fourth in the latter.

With his 2020 season limited to a series of indoor races before pandemic restrictions shut him down, Ajomale came into 2021 looking to secure a spot on the Olympic roster. He won three 100-metre races on Athletics Canada’s Tokyo Qualifier Series, winning in Windsor, Guelph and Montreal. In June 2021, Ajomale set a wind-assisted personal best in the 100 metres with a time of 10.07 seconds. He earned his spot for Tokyo 2020 a week later with a third-place finish at the Canadian Olympic Trials.

Ajomale ran collegiately for the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. He was a three-time NCAA Div. II Champion in 2018, winning the indoor 60 metres as well as the 100-metre and 200-metre titles. He successfully defended his 200-metre title in 2019. Ajomale represented Canada at the 2015 Summer Universiade, advancing to the semi-finals in both the 100 metres and 200 metres. He’d previously worn the Maple Leaf at the 2012 and 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships.