Duo of Former Butler Sprinters Set to Compete in 2024 Summer Olympics

EL DORADO, Kan. – Former All-American Butler track and field sprinters Akeem Sirleaf and Emmanuel Matadi are slated to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics, held in Paris from July 26-August 11.

Sirleaf, Butler sprinter in 2017, and Matadi, Butler sprinter in 2010-11 will be a part of Liberia's 4x100m relay in August. The first round is scheduled for August 8th at 4:35 a.m. CT and the relay final will be run at 12:45 p.m. CT on August 9th.

The Liberian relay squad made up of Sirleaf, Matadi, Jabez Reeves, and Joseph Fahnbulleh qualified for the summer games on Sunday, April 5th, at the World Athletics Relays Championship in the Bahamas. They clocked a time of 38.65 seconds, finishing second behind Germany in the first heat. The time of 38.65 is a new national record. The qualification marks the first time in 24 years the Liberian 4x100m relay has qualified for the Olympics.

Matadi, now a three-time Olympian, not only qualified in the men's 4x100m relay with Sirleaf but will also be competing in the men's 100m after setting a Liberian record, running 9.91 at the 2024 PUMA American Track League: Holloway Pro Classic earlier this month.

Matadi ran at Butler from 2010-11, earning NJCAA All-American honors. He ran at the NJCAA national championships in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Matadi, a St. Paul, Minn., native, captured the 100m Jayhawk Conference title and was a part of the winning 4x400m relay team at the Texas Relays (3:09.17). He ran a personal-best 6.75 in the 60m finals at the Region VI Indoor Championships. Matadi ranked in the top three in the 60m in 2011 on the national performance list.

Matadi went on to compete at Louisville and later Minnesota State where he rewrote the Maverick record books. In one season Matadi set a pair of indoor records (60m/6.66 & 200m/21.10), to go along with outdoor records in the 100m (10.19) and the 4x100 relay (40.15). His season culminated in a pair of NCAA Division II outdoor track & field championships in the 100m and 200m events.

Matadi has previously represented Liberia in the 2016 Summer Olympics, the 2017 World Athletics Championships, and the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Sirleaf, also a St. Paul native, ran for the Grizzlies in 2017. He helped the Butler men's squad to an indoor Region VI indoor title, fourth place national finish at the NJCAA Indoor Championships, Jayhawk West outdoor title and a fifth-place finish at the NJCAA Outdoor Championships.

Sirleaf notched a first-place finish in the 400m (49.93) at WSU's Herm Wilson Invitational to kick off the indoor season. He was a part of Butler's Region VI Indoor meet-record 4x400m relay (3:11.70) and qualified for the finals of the 200m at the NJCAA Indoor Nationals at Pittsburg State, running 21.30. He finished seventh in the finals running 21.42 and earning All-American status.

He was named the NJCAA Division I Outdoor National Male Athlete of the Week by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in April of 2017 after posting an at the time NJCAA D-I leading time of 20.90 seconds in the 200-meter dash.

T&F | M 400m dash: REGION VI CHAMPION! Butler's Akeem Sirleaf wins the event (47.02) at the Region VI Outdoor Championships. #buconation pic.twitter.com/SNZvnArOkB

— Butler Grizzlies (@ButlerGrizzlies) May 6, 2017

The accomplishments did not stop there. Sirleaf also helped Butler's 4x100m relay break the meet record at the Ev Kohls Grizzly Classic in El Dorado. They ran it in 40.73 seconds good for a first-place finish. He later earned the 400m dash region title at the Region VI outdoor meet in Arkansas City, running it in 47.02 seconds. The Grizzlies 4x100m relay placed second at the NJCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Hutchinson with Sirleaf helping them to a time of 39.75 seconds. Sirleaf also qualified and competed in the 200m, placing fifth (21.08) as well as being on the 4x400m relay.

Following Butler, Sirleaf transferred to North Carolina A&T where he became a national champion with his teammates in the 4x400m relay at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Sirleaf helped the Aggies win their third straight MEAC indoor title and their third straight MEAC outdoor title in 2019. Combined in indoor and outdoor, he had 23 top-5 finishes and eight first-place finishes, including a win in the 200 meters at the Florida Relays hosted by the University of Florida. He helped the Aggies to multiple MEAC titles across his three seasons. Sirleaf toppled some Liberian records along the way, breaking the country's 200-meter record at the 2019 MEAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 20.37 seconds.

Sirleaf qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 4x400m relay but did not compete. He has had a highly successful professional career, holding multiple Liberia track records.