Ferdinand Omanyala Struggles in Austria Ahead of World Athletics Championships

Africa’s fastest sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala registered mixed results at the Josko Lauf Meet in Austria on Saturday.

Omanyala lost the finals in the competition, missing the sub-10 mark after clocking 10.08 and 10.07 seconds.

He recorded the fastest time in all his six heats, beating Britain’s Eugene Amo-Dadzie in the last heat. Amo-Dadzie used 10.16 seconds to complete his last heat.

The British however, overcame Omanyala in the final with 10.04 seconds on the clock ahead of the African champion.

This was the meet that the Kenyan first ran his sub-race when he clocked 9.96 and 9.86 seconds respectively in 2021.

The Commonwealth Games champion now shifts focus to the beckoning World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary next month.

After the Satuday’s duty, Omanyala will join Team Kenya for the World Championships in Miramas ahead of the contests.

Omanyala won his first Diamond League race after outsmarting former World U20 record Letsile Tebogo of Botswana at the Monaco meet on July 21, a win that saw him book his place at the Diamond League finals in Oregon in September.

In Budapest, Omanyala will be aiming to become the first African to win a medal in the 100 metres race of the championships with the reigning champion Fred Kerley, world 200m Champion Noah Lyles and Akani Simbine, among others being a threat in his quest at the Championships.