Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala says his target this season is to run under 9.77 but breaking Jamaican legend Usain Bolt’s record of 9.58 is not an exception to him.
The fastest man in Africa believes that time is ripe for him to set a new world record after setting a time of 9.77 at the Kip Keino Classic in Kasarani Stadium where the Police officer had an opportunity to meet and greet the President for his heroics.
In an interview with the reporter, Omanyala said he had achieved his targets last year and the time has come for him to shift focus to bigger goals like attempting to break the 13-year record set by Bolt in Berlin.
“Last year was a success for me given having achieved my goal of breaking the African record. I will now shift my focus to attempting to break the world record, however, my first target is to try and run under 9.77″ Omanyala said.
The sprinter revealed he was set to compete at the World Indoor Championships in France and plans to leave on February 1 for three World Athletics Indoor Tour races as he aims to improve in his first 50 meters of his specialty-100 meters race.
“I hope the world indoor games will help me in my first 50 meters of my sprints so that when I shift to outdoor I can easily compete better, I have been preparing well for these championships and I hope to yield positive results once I get to compete this coming month,” Omanyala said.
He will also compete at the Mondeville Meeting on February 9 and the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Paris on February 17 before making his debut at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia slated for March 18-20 and the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, the USA from July 15-24.
The former rugby player turn sprinter was also elated after he recently signed a sponsorship deal with German multinational corporation Adidas where he revealed he will now be comfortable while running since the four-year sponsorship deal will cater for his basics to ensure he performs to his level best without hiccups.
“Yes Adidas came, and we signed a good deal, and they are going to support me for the next four years with kitting, travelling money and everything possible for me to run with peace of mind,” Omanyala said.
Omanyala, who recently joined the National Police Service after a heroic 2021 season, further said that the motivation he draws from American greats like Justin Gatlin and Trayvon Bromell makes him believe that he can achieve his target.
“Competing against world greatest like Americans Trayvon Bromell and Justin Gatlin wasn’t easy, and they always encouraged me and made me believe that I can be a greater person than I am today by breaking those targets,” Omanyala said.
The 25-year-old athlete, also a second-year Bachelor of Science student at the University of Nairobi, became a household name after his heroics in Lagos, Nigeria where he clocked 10.01 seconds on 30th March 2022 at an athletic event dubbed the ‘Making of Champions (MOC) Grand Prix’.
Omanyala went on to finish third in the Olympics semi-finals in 10.01 seconds before going on to surpass the 10 seconds mark at the International Josko Laufmeeting, Andorf Austria 2021 with a personal best of 9.86 seconds.
The sprinter went on to clock an impressive African best time of 9.77 seconds, breaking the 9.85s record by South African sprinter Akuni Sembine at the Kip-Keino Classics held at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani on September 18, 2022.
His heroics at the Kip-Keino classic elevated Omanyala to the fastest African man and the 8th fastest of all time in the 100-metre event globally and recently was awarded as the (SOYA) Sports personality of the year alongside Olympic 1500 m champion Faith Chepng’etich Kipyegon.
Omanyala was feted during the Sports Personality of the Year Awards (Soya) held at the Bukhungu Stadium, Kakamega a fortnight ago.
He stole the limelight from legendary marathoner Eliud Kipchoge and 800 mm Olympic gold medallist Emmanuel Korir on his way to the winner’s podium.
