Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, disappointed home fans as he was relegated to a fifth-place finish in the 100-metre dash during the 5th Kip Keino classic continental tour held on Saturday at Nyayo National Stadium.
The final, which had two false starts, saw Olympic silver medalist Keneth Bednarek from the USA, who finished 2nd last year, revenging against the Kenyan by defeating him in front of home fans, clocking 9.91 seconds, 0.08 seconds ahead of Liberia’s Emannuel Matadi, who finished 2nd, while Jeremiah Azu of the UK came home 3rd in 10.00.
The Commonwealth Champion could only manage 10.03, ahead of his compatriot Mark Otieno, who finished 6th.
“The races humble you at some point. We are approaching this season in a different way. We are building up the 100m as we go deep into the season.
I don’t want to pick too early in the season and then go down before August. We want to make sure that we correct everything before August.” said Omanyala
It was the first loss for the Commonwealth champion this year in 100m, as he now shifts focus to the World Relays Championships in the Bahamas between April 4 and May 5 next month.
Olympic 200m silver medalist Christine Mboma of Namibia could only manage a 7th finish in the 100m final, which was won by Marriam Bass of The Gambia with a seasonal best time of 11.33.
