Why Kenyans should not be worried by Ferdinand Omanyala's slow start to the season

Ferdinand Omanyala has explained why his fans should not be worried following his slow start to the season.

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala has assured his fans of greater things ahead after having a seemingly worrying start to his season.

Omanyala, in an episode of his documentary, Road To Paris "Trust The Process", Omanyala explained that he is taking a different approach to his season since changing coaches, and his main focus is on making progress with each race.

He opened his outdoor season with the men’s 100m at the Kip Keino Classic, where he faded to finish fifth and then improved to a second-place finish at the Atlanta City Games.

His third race of the season was the Prefontaine Classic, the Diamond League Meeting in Eugene, where Omanyala also managed to finish second before finishing third at the Racers Grand Prix in Jamaica.

The 28-year-old, however, explained that losing the race on home soil was disappointing and he felt for the fans that had come to watch him race.

“Of course, it was hard losing at home and that day, my best wasn’t the best. I felt for those people who were waiting for me in the stands…it was raining by the way.

“The moment I was being introduced it started raining…I think those were blessings that God was pouring down upon us and me. The season started and Kip Keino was my first 100m and for the first time in April I was running the 100m other than the other seasons where I had been doing like six 100m races before April.

“It’s a different time and the explanation behind it is that we want to have a progressive season and every 100m is a progress towards the next perfection. So, we want to get to the Olympics when we are sharpest.

“That’s the plan…start in April and then as we go, make corrections so that when we get to the Olympics, everything is okay. I’m trusting that everything is going to work out well.

“Having run my second 100m race in Atlanta last weekend, I feel like it was a good one, having to improve, as we got to the finals, that was a positive,” Omanyala said.

The Commonwealth Games champion added that he usually struggles living up to the billing in major championships but his performance in Atlanta impressed him and filled his heart with pure joy.

Going forward, Omanyala has promised to work on the finer things and analyse his previous races so far. The Kenyan sprint sensation also hopes that his fans will understand that things will eventually work out since this is a season of faith for him.

“I’ve been having a problem performing at major championships but in Atlanta, I was impressed. I didn’t know where to place my emotions because they were all over the place.

“When we get back home, around June and July, we shall be hitting it hard for the Olympics and going back now, we have the races that we wanted to run and we shall just analyse and hit hard now going into the Olympics.

“I’m hoping that this should explain to them, my fans, what the plan is and to show them that we are still in the right direction of planning and handling this season as it goes,” he added.