Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala previews a past race. /FERDINAND OMANYALA/X
Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala was on Saturday denied a third Kip Keino Classic title after settling for third position in a star-studded men’s 100m final at the Ulinzi Sports Complex.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games champion clocked 10.07 seconds in a fiercely contested race, where Australia’s World Indoor silver medallist Kennedy Lachlan stole the show with a lifetime best of 9.98.
South Africa’s teenage sprint sensation Bayanda Walaza claimed second place in 10.03.
Omanyala, who was targeting his first sub-10 of the season, admitted he expected a sharper performance but took the result in stride.
"Ofcourse I expected a faster time but the race is finished now and we move on," Omanyala said.
"I am correcting mistakes as we move on."
The Kenyan sprint king was gunning for a season’s best after a mixed bag of results this year.
His top mark remains the 10.00 he posted at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix, where he placed second behind Akani Simbine (9.90).
He opened his 2025 campaign with a 10.22 for third at the first leg of the ASA Grand Prix in South Africa before bounced back in the second leg with a 10.08 win.
He followed it with a second-place finish (10.13) at the Xiamen Diamond League before clocked 10.25 in Shanghai for last place and 10.05 for second in Rabat.
Having won back-to-back Kip Keino Classic titles in 2022 (9.85) and 2023 (9.84), Omanyala was hoping to reclaim his crown after finishing fifth in 2024 (10.03), where American Kenneth Bednarek took top honours in 9.91.
Looking ahead, Omanyala believes there’s still work to be done on his phases.
"Now I am going into the next phase and do things I did not do."
"I have been working on my transition and hopefully we can get it right in the next couple of days," Omanyala revealed.
He also lauded the home fans for their passionate support. "I thank the fans for turning up in large numbers, I mean the crowd was very electric," he said.
Meanwhile, Lachlan was thrilled to finally dip under the 10-second barrier and set a new personal best.
"I have been trying to run below 10 seconds and I am happy it was possible today," the Australian said.
He was glad to have lowered his personal best, highlighting the elite field that had been assembled.
"It a huge PB for considering how elite the field was and at a high altitude. It means the season is heading in the right direction for me."
