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Ferdinand Omanyala has opened up on how watching Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake motivated him to dump rugby for sprinting.
Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala has shared that the Jamaican duo of Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake motivated him to ditch rugby and join sprints.
The Commonwealth Games champion disclosed that he watched Bolt during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. He explained that watching Blake break the Diamond League record was also motivation enough for him to join the track.
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19:04 - 09.10.2023
ATHLETICS Dates for Athletics Kenya 2023/2024 cross-country season announced
Athletics Kenya is set to host the first cross-country of the 2023/2024 season at the Machakos People's Park.
Currently, Bolt is the world record holder in both the 100m and 200m, records he set during the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Blake has also achieved major achievements and he is the third-fastest man in the world.
“The first time I watched athletics was in 2004 and I was particularly interested in the sprints. The second time was when Usain Bolt was doing his thing in 2007 and 2008.
And of course, when Blake broke the Diamond League record…that is when I started getting interested in the sprints,” Omanyala said in a video posted on his X (Twitter) handle.
The 27-year-old added that he never thought in his wildest dreams that one day he would be a successful sprinter and make history.
He has now made a name for himself, becoming the first man to win a Diamond League Meeting, a feat he achieved in Monaco.
He was also the first Kenyan to reach the final in the 100m at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
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15:11 - 09.10.2023
ATHLETICS Ruth Chepng'etich earns a windfall despite finishing second behind Sifan Hassan at Chicago Marathon
Ruth Chepng'etich was definitely disappointed not to have won the race but she will be smiling all the way to the bank courtesy of her second-place finish.
“I never had any idea that I’d one day become a sprint star. For this type of sport there’s a lot of pain mentally, physically, emotionally because you have to make a lot of sacrifices and trust the process,” he said.
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