Bori Akinola
Toluwabori Akinola is an Irish sprinter. In 2025, he became Irish national champion over 60 metres and 100 metres.
Early life
In September 2017, he emigrated to Ireland from Lagos, Nigeria with his mother, older brother and younger sister. He attended Community College in Balbriggan.Career
Akinola was a relative late-starter to athletics, and was 17 years-old when he went to his first training session in 2018 in Santry with Fingallians Athletics Club.Competing in July 2022 at the National under-23 Championships in Tullamore, he finished second in the 100 metres in 10.30. In 2023, he won a silver medal at the Irish Athletics Championships in the 100 metres, both behind Israel Olatunde. He was second behind Olatunde again at the 2024 Irish Championships. The pair were teammates in the 4x100m relay at the 2024 European Athletics Championships, Akinola's first major championship.
In January 2025, he lowered his 60 metres personal best to 6.65 seconds. He won the 60 metres title at the Irish Indoor Athletics Championship at Abbotstown on 23 February 2025, running 6.61 seconds. The time put him joint-second on the Irish all-time list alongside Paul Hession, behind only the national record of 6.57 by Israel Olatunde, who finished third in the race. The first national title came despite the fact he had been nursing a hamstring injury in the lead-up to the race. He qualified for the Irish team for the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn. At the Championships, he ran 6.66 seconds to reach the semi-finals of the 60 metres race.
In June 2025, he ran the fastest all-conditions 100m by an Irishman with 10.10 seconds. On 21 June 2025, alongside Michael Farrelly, Marcus Lawler and Israel Olatunde, he set a new Irish 4x100 metres relay record running a time of 38.92 seconds at a World Continental Tour Meeting in Switzerland, the record was broken the following week at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships in Maribor, although he was not a member of the team due to running in the 100 metres earlier that day, and was replaced with Sean Aigbobah. He won the 100m at the 2025 Irish Athletics Championships. He set a new personal best of 10.20 seconds for the metres on 17 August 2025 in Stratford.
Competing in France on 24 January 2026, he won the 60m at the Meeting Indoor de Lyon, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Bronze meeting, in 6.65 seconds. The following week, he won at the EAP Glasgow in 6.59 seconds after he and Hungarian Dominik Illovszky were both credited with the same time.