Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, is on a mission to put sprinting on the map in Kenya, a country where the long-distance runner is king.
The 26-year-old Kenyan is hoping to shine in the 100m at the World Athletics Championships opening this week in Eugene, Oregon.
However, he was facing a race against time yesterday to obtain a US visa to enable him to get to Oregon for the 100m heats tomorrow.
Photo: AFP
“Sad that I haven’t travelled to Oregon yet and 100m is in 2 days. Visa delays!!” he wrote on Instagram.
“We are anxiously waiting for the US embassy to issue visas for a number of athletes, including Omanyala. Hopefully they will be able to fly out today,” Athletics Kenya executive member Barnabas Korir told reporters.
Omanyala is the third-quickest man in the world this season behind Americans Fred Kerley and Trayvon Bromell.
Photo: AFP
He wears two wristbands on his right arm: one, made of black and green beads, bears the numbers 9:85, his season-best 100m time set in May.
The other, a bracelet crafted from leather and metal, is inscribed with 9:77, the African record he set in September last year.
It made him the ninth-fastest man ever, behind four Americans and three Jamaicans.
Making the podium in Eugene would be an historic first for an African runner.
Namibia’s Frankie Fredericks twice won Olympic silver in the 100m in the 1990s, but his one gold and three silvers in the World Championships were all over 200m.
Omanyala said he has set his sights on at least reaching the final on Saturday.
“I’m targeting 9.6,” he told reporters in an interview during a training session at the main stadium in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. “That will be my biggest achievement. And of course, I am going for the win.”
The young athlete and his coach Duncan Ayiemba have been mapping out ways to make sprinting more popular in Kenya, renowned for its top middle and long-distance runners.
“Normally it’s long distance in Kenya, so I want the 100 metres to be something big in Kenya this year,” Ayiemba said.
Omanyala became the first Kenyan sprinter to reach an Olympic semi-final at the Tokyo Games last year.
The chemistry student took up athletics six years ago after playing rugby sevens.
“When I started athletics, my aim was to make people know that Kenyans can sprint, that is something that has changed,” he said.
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