Cricket
Motorsport
Basketball test
League - Test
Combat Sports
Netball
Football
"If the conditions lines up...": Australia's newest sprinting star eyes off 24-year first
Nicholas Quinlan • July 27th, 2026 5:03 pm
No man has gone under 10 seconds in the 100-metre sprint at the Commonwealth Games since Kim Collins claimed gold in 2002.
But if Australia’s newest sprinting phenomenon, Eddie Nketia, has anything to do with it, that will change in the next couple of days.
The 25-year-old will make his first appearance for Australia at the international event at this year’s Commonwealth Games, having officially switched his national allegiances from New Zealand to Australia last December, having spent time in Canberra throughout his youth before moving back to Scots College in Wellington.
The decision would come after missing out on both the Olympics and Commonwealth Games squads for the Kiwis back in 2021 and 2022.
This sees him follow his dad Gus’ footsteps, having switched from Ghana to New Zealand following the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland.
Reflecting on his decision, Nketia admitted that he was heartbroken by his non-selection, which ultimately drove his switch to the green and gold.
“It was actually heartbreaking missing out on the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics,” Nketia explained on SEN’s Whateley with Adam White.
“Especially as the country was saying the same thing that, ‘Oh, we're going to get you there, we promised this, promise that’.
“But it's just unfortunate when it's time for them to stick up for me, they (were) just nowhere to be found; it was crazy.
“Like didn't even bother to like fight for a nomination for the Olympic (Games) and for the Commonwealth Games.
“It hurts, but things just happen for a reason, and I really appreciate that it showed New Zealand sports true colours, and their aim, and I just didn't mess with that.”
Before he returned to athletics, Nketia would head over to the US and join the University of Hawai’i football team on scholarship as a wide receiver in 2023 but did not play a game.
After that, he transferred to the University of Southern California (USC) as a track and field athlete.
It was while representing USC in May that Nketia smashed the Australian 100 metres all-conditions record, having run a wind-assisted 9.74 seconds, seeing him win gold at the Big Ten Track and Field Championships in Nebraska.
Whilst that run did not break the official Australian record of 9.93 set by Patrick Johnson in 2003 due to the illegal tailwind, Nketia does believe he can beat that record in Glasgow.
“I believe that if the conditions line up and the track is bouncy like it was back in Nebraska, I believe we can get a 9.8s legal (run),” he stated.
But as he notes, there will be plenty of competition for the gold medal.
“Oh, there is a lot (of competition)," he added.
“We've got the South Africans, we've got the Ghanaians, but there is one guy that I've actually versed before.
“He's from Nigeria. His name is (Kayinsola Ajayi); I can't pronounce his first name, but I reckon you should watch out for Ajayi.
“He’s been running like 9.7s, 9.8s, and it's just insane, man.
“He's just a very talented kid, and he's just awesome.”
Nketia begins his Commonwealth Games campaign tonight in the first rounds of the 100 metres at Scotstoun Stadium in Heat 11.
The semi-finals and final take place on Wednesday morning (Tuesday night local time).
