has gone down memory of his painful loss at the Kip Keino Classic and how his team helped him bounce back to end his season as the second-fastest man in the world.
Africa’s fastest man faded to a fifth-place finish in the race, clocking 10.03 seconds to cross the finish line in the race won by American. Ferdinand Omanyala explained that his whole team, including his coach and wife, held his hand through the setback.
The 28-year-old was used to winning the and was looking forward to defending his title in the race but this season, he faced an unexpected setback. Omanyala made his Kip Keino Classic debut in 2021 where he finished second in a new African record time.
He said Kenya is still miles away from becoming a powerhouse in sprints, calling for patiance.
then returned in 2022 and claimed the win before defending his title in 2023 and stamping authority as one of the greatest sprinters. However, 2024 did not serve him well as he finished outside the podium bracket.
“Of course, my team, I’ve had a very huge team including my manager, my physio, my coach, my wife, my family, all these people were here and every time I had a disappointment, they were there and I remember for the first time we lost at the Kip Keino Classic, that hit hard but they were there,” Ferdinand Omanyala said.
“They encouraged me and told me it was not the end of the road and we were still pushing and those are the people I could go back to after the disappointment and they encouraged me to keep pushing.”
However,did not rule out the fact that he made some wins on and off the track. He had a great indoor campaign where he finished fourth at the in Glasgow, Scotland.
He also finished the season as the second-fastest man in the world with the 9.79 seconds that he ran at the Kenyan Olympic trials. is the fastest man in 2024 courtesy of the 9.77 seconds he ran at the Jamaican Olympic trials.
“I have achieved a lot, being among the fastest men in the world, that’s a big achievement and my indoor season was also very good because we missed a medal by like one position but for me, that was a take-in because I ran like two national records,” Omanyala said.
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“Those are the take-ins and I always like to be positive because you never know. I mean, we thank God for everything because when you wake up healthy and injury-free, that’s a plus. I’ve also had my achievements off the track, those ones are personal but I’ve had so many achievements.”