Ferdinand Omanyala: Africa’s fastest man quickly regaining form after Olympics heartbreak

Ferdinand Omanyala was the first Kenyan to win a 100m Diamond League meeting with victory in Monaco last month | Photo Credit: Courtesy

Ferdinand Omanyala: Africa’s fastest man quickly regaining form after Olympics heartbreak

Joel Omotto 06:00 - 27.08.2024

Ferdinand Omanyala looks to have banished his disappointing Olympics outing following impressive results in his last two events, setting up the stage for a strong end to the season.

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala was among athletes who received criticism following his disappointing Olympics performance but he seems to be slowly coming back to form.

Omanyala went into the Paris 2024 Olympics with high hopes but ended up empty handed after failing to go past the semi-final.

The 28-year-old clocked identical 10.08 in the first round and in the semi-final and while the former was enough to secure passage, the latter was not, as he ended up eighth in his heat that had Jamaican Kishane Thompson, who went on to win silver, American Fred Kerley (bronze medallist), Canadian Andre De Grasse and Briton Zharnel Hughes.

Omanyala had shown great promise when he bounced back from a fifth-place finish at the Kip Keino Classic, where he clocked 10.03 in April, to 9.98 at the Prefontaine Classic in May, his first sub-10 seconds of the season, and then a season’s best 9.79 at the Olympics trials in June, then the world’s fastest time.

From there, he did not dip under 10 seconds, managing 10.01 at the BFK Games in Hangelo, his final race before the Olympics.

However, to his credit, he has put the Olympics disappointment behind him and recorded impressive times in his subsequent races.

At the Josko Lauf Meeting in Austria on August 17, he clocked an impressive 9.95 seconds, signaling a formidable return to form following his Paris disappointment.

Omanyala went even better in Silesia on Sunday, posting 9.88 for second place, behind American Fred Kerley, who won the race in 9.87.

With two races remaining in Rome and Zurich before the final in Brussels, Omanyala looks in good shape to end the season on a high which will offer him plenty of confidence going into 2025, where the World Championships in Tokyo will be the main goal.