Mission Impossible? Omanyala eyeing World and Diamond League 100m title, African Record In 2023

African record holder and Commonwealth 100m champion, Ferdinand Omanyala wants to achieve what no African sprinter has managed to achieve-win the World 100m title this summer in Budapest, Hungary.

The African 100m king is also aiming to be crowned Diamond League champion in Eugene, Oregon, USA this year at the final of the 14-leg series as well as break his own 9.77 African 100m record he set in 2021 at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani, Nairobi, Kenya.

“I am looking forward to another successful season. This year, I want to accomplish three primary things. My sights are set on winning the World Championships, the Diamond League, and smashing the African record,” Omayala told Kenya’s Daily Star.

The 27 year old didn’t have the explosive debut he vowed to have at the World Championships last year in Oregon after his preparations was disrupted by visa delays.

He could not make it beyond the semis in the 100m at the competition but made up for it by winning his first Commonwealth Games title and in the process became the second Kenyan in 60 years to win the blue ribband title after Seraphino Antao in 1962 in Perth, Australia, when the race was 100 yards.

Omanyala had earlier in June won the African 100m title at the Championships in Mauritius and will hope to add the African Games title in Ghana to his collections later this year.

The Kenyan is not oblivious of how herculean the task would be and he is already preparing by running 60m indoors this season.

Omanyala told the Daily Star he purposely chose to compete in the 60m indoors in an effort to sharpen his starting strategy and increase his speed.

“My strength is in the last 50 meters, so I want to use the indoor meets to work on the first half of the stretch.”

“So far, I’ve been running fast times in training and my top-end speed has definitely increased. I’m happy to say my race has really improved on both ends. I am currently running faster than I did in June and July of last year, which indicates significant improvement.”

Up next for Omayanla is the indoor meet on Wednesday in France.

“I can polish up my block starts in France because the 60m is all about the dash speed,” Omanyala said.

“I am looking forward to a great season. It will be a perfect platform for training because the facilities in France are definitely great and I have access to so much,” Omanyala said.