Ferdinand Omanyala broke his own national record in the men’s 100m, crossing the line in 10.00sec for a third place in his semi-final heat.
The 24-year-old obliterated his previous record by one hundredth of a second, set in Nairobi during the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games national trials.
Omanyala had already equaled the 10.01sec mark in the Saturday in Tokyo where he made history to become the first Kenyan ever to qualify for 100m semi-final at Olympics.
However, Omanyala was proud despite missing a place in the 100m final after coming home third in his semi-final heat that was won by Fred Kerley from USA in a time of 9.96 sec.
“I am happy to make my mother proud. She brought me to this world and I am not shaking it. Beating Yohan Blake, my idol, is something I will cherish for a very long time,” he said.
Omanyala was the lone ranger in the race after his compatriot Mike Otieno was disqualified after he failed a drug test.
The University of Nairobi student, Omanyala is a father of one and is currently a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at the College of Biological and Physical Sciences.
He decided to join athletics 2016 and at one was handed 14-month suspension by the Anti-doping Agency of Kenya (Adak) for using performance enhancing substance.
He served the ban for use of glucocorticoid betamethasone, a substance banned by World Anti-Doping Agency and was cleared by the Athletic Kenya to compete at Tokyo Olympics, following some pressure from sports stakeholders.
Photo Credit: Reuters
