Sprinter Abdul Hakim Sani Brown set a new national record with a time of 9.97 seconds in the 100 meters at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday.
The 20-year-old Sani Brown, finishing third at the event in Texas, trimmed 0.01 seconds from the previous mark set by Yoshihide Kiryu in September 2017.
Sani Brown, a University of Florida sophomore, clocked a personal best 9.99 in May and became the first Japanese to break the 10-second barrier twice. His 9.97-second record is tied for 102nd in the world, according to the International Association of Athletics Federations.
The world mark is owned by Usain Bolt, who clocked 9.58 at the 2009 world championships. The Asian record of 9.91 is shared by Qatar's Femi Ogunode and China's Su Bingtian.
Sani Brown came in third behind Divine Oduduru of Texas Tech, who posted 9.86 seconds, and Cravon Gillespie of the University of Oregon, who ran 9.93.
COLLEGIATE LEADER ✅
WORLD LEADER ✅#ncaaTF Champion ✅
9️⃣.8️⃣6️⃣ pic.twitter.com/nXDx3vWDiQ
— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 8, 2019
Sani Brown is considered a hopeful to appear at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He sustained an injury ahead of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where Japan claimed the silver medal in the men's 4x100-meter relay.
He swept the 100 and 200 at the 2015 world youth championships, breaking Bolt's 12-year-old meet record in the latter event. Sani Brown went on to make his world championship debut that year.
He entered the University of Florida in the autumn of 2017, the same year he won the two events at the Japanese nationals.
Before Kiryu, the national record was held by Koji Ito, who ran 10.00 in 1998.
