Fourteen‑year‑old Annabelle Fasuba announced her arrival on the national stage with a performance that crackled with promise — a blistering 7.44 seconds in the 60m that catapulted her to the sixth fastest U17 time in British history and left the athletics world buzzing.
A meteoric indoor debut
At the Sutcliffe Indoor 60s in London, the teenage sensation — daughter of Nigerian sprint legend Olusoji Fasuba — exploded out of the blocks and powered to victory in the women’s event. Her new personal best didn’t just win the race; it vaulted her into the UK all‑time rankings, placing her shoulder‑to‑shoulder with elite names and just a tenth of a second shy of the freshly minted national mark of 7.34.
Records fall, expectations rise
This was Annabelle’s first outing at the under‑17 level, yet she already carries the résumé of a prodigy. A double English Schools’ champion, she previously rewrote the under‑15 record books with an 11.51 100m and equalled Katherine Merry’s long‑standing 200m benchmark of 23.72. Now, with a 60m time that rivals the best in her age group, her trajectory looks unstoppable.
A family sprinting dynasty
Talent runs in the Fasuba bloodline. Annabelle’s younger sister, Oluwatoyin, also turned heads at the same meeting, winning the under‑12 category with swift times of 8.90 in her heat and 9.05 in the final. Their father, Olusoji, remains a towering figure in African sprinting — a three‑time African 100m champion, the first African to claim the World Indoor 60m title, and an Olympic bronze medallist in the 4x100m relay.
The road ahead
Still eligible for under‑16 competition outdoors, Annabelle’s leap into the U17 rankings is both a statement and a challenge. She now sits in elite company, just behind World Championship medallist Amy Hunt, and the gap to the national record is tantalisingly small. With youth, pedigree and a string of record‑breaking runs already behind her, Annabelle Fasuba has stamped herself as one of Britain’s most electrifying young sprinters — a name set to reverberate through the sport for years to come.
