New Sprint Sensation Iheme Breaks World Record

By: Gyang Dakwo

Fifteen-year-old Divine Iheme broke the 60m world record for his age group on Sunday in London to set the sprinting community abuzz with speculations on how far he will go.

Iheme, who has been dubbed as the new Noah Lyles, broke J-Mee Samuels’ Mark of 6.74 from 2003 twice, clocking 6.71 and 6.72 at the next instalment of the BFTTA Indoor Series.

He is already fourth on the UK 60m U18 all-time rankings, 0.02 off Mark Lewis-Francis’ record of 6.69 set in 1999.

Last year, Iheme ran 10.3 over 100m, which was almost one second quicker than the best time Olympic champion Lyles managed at the same age of 14.

The teenager shaved two tenths of a second, a massive margin in sprinting, off the previous record and has a bright future ahead.

“When I first saw it, I was in utter shock, I couldn’t believe it! I was jumping about, running around, I just felt so happy but I couldn’t have done it without God,” said Iheme.

“Noah Lyles is a great athlete and he’s given me a lot of confidence to pursue this career, run quicker, get a better time.

“I feel like it gives me the confidence to break more and more barriers as I go through my journey.”

Iheme revealed that he has already committed to representing Great Britain despite his parents both previously representing Nigeria at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

His grandparents were runners and mother Nkiruka Anu and father Innocent Iheme were both successful athletes, in their own right – with his father competing in the 100m and the long jump, and his mother competing in the 100m and 200m as he does.