| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Toluwabori Akinola |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Born | 6 August 2001 |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Sprint |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | 60m: 6.61 (2025) 100m: 10.20 (2025) 200m: 21.42 (2025) |
Toluwabori Akinola (born 6 August 2001) is an Irish sprinter. In 2025, he became Irish national champion over 60 metres and 100 metres. [1]
In September 2017, he emigrated to Ireland from Lagos, Nigeria with his mother, older brother and younger sister. He attended Community College in Balbriggan. [2]
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. [2]
Competing in July 2022 at the National under-23 Championships in Tullamore, he finished second in the 100 metres in 10.30. [2] In 2023, he won a silver medal at the Irish Athletics Championships in the 100 metres, both behind Israel Olatunde. [3] 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. [2] [4] [5]
In January 2025, he lowered his 60 metres personal best to 6.65 seconds. [6] He won the 60 metres title at the Irish Indoor Athletics Championship at Abbotstown on 23 February 2025, running 6.61 seconds. [7] 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. [8] The first national title came despite the fact he had been nursing a hamstring injury in the lead-up to the race. [9] He qualified for the Irish team for the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn. [10] At the Championships, he ran 6.66 seconds to reach the semi-finals of the 60 metres race. [11]
In June 2025, he ran the fastest all-conditions 100m by an Irishman with 10.10 seconds (+2.9m/s). [12] 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. [13] [14] He won the 100m at the 2025 Irish Athletics Championships. [15] He set a new personal best of 10.20 seconds for the metres on 17 August 2025 in Stratford. [16]
He studied computer science at University College Dublin, and later worked as an iOS engineer. [2]