The 10-second barrier has been unbreakable for Japanese sprinters in the 100 meters, Koji Ito coming the closest in 1998 when he ran it in 10 seconds flat.

But Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, the 18-year-old half-Ghanaian prodigy, is giving Japan hope the wall may finally come down after completing the 100-200 double at the national athletics championships on Sunday, the first sprinter to accomplish the feat since Shingo Suetsugu in 2003.

Sani Brown rewrote his personal best in both the 100 and 200, his time of 10.05 in the 100 the sixth fastest ever by a Japanese. He did it while beating all four members of the nationally heralded Rio Olympic silver medal-winning 4x100 medley relay team — Ryota Yamagata, Shota Iizuka, Yoshihide Kiryu and Aska Cambridge.