Reigning Africa and Commonwealth Games champion, Ferdinand Omanyala will be seeking to legally run inside 10 seconds for the third time this season and eighth time overall when he files out for the 100m final at the Kenya National Championships on Saturday.
Omanyala ran 10.08 and 10.06 respectively to win his first round and semifinal heats at the championships and the 27 year old feels he can run his third, wind legal sub 10 seconds on Kenya soil.
‘It was another beautiful race, I loved it and I am looking forward to tomorrow’s finals where I hope to lower the time to perhaps a sub 10 seconds. The weather was chilly but one just has to run and hope for the best,’ Omanyala was quoted as saying by Kenya’s Daily Nation after the race.
The fastest African man ever in the event tops the 2023 world list with the 9.84 seconds he ran last month at the Kip Keino Classics and will be looking to break 10 seconds again for the second time on Kenya soil.
Omanyala first ran a wind legal sub 10 seconds (9.96) in the blue ribband event at the Int. JOSKO Laufmeeting, Pramtalstadion in Andorf, Austria.
He ducked inside 10 seconds on six more ocassions including when he ran 9.77 in May 2022 at the Kip Keino Classics to set a new African record in the event.
He also made history as the first and so far the only man on the continent to break 9.80 in the event.
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