Omanyala Wins First African 100m Title for Kenya in 32 Years

Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala bagged gold in the 100-meter race at the 2022 African Athletics Championships in Port-Louis, Mauritius on Thursday. 

The 26-year-old clocked 9.93 seconds to edge out defending champion Akani Simbine of South Africa in a thrilling photo finish while South African Henricho Bruintjies finished third in a time of 10.01.

Omanyala, who currently holds the Kenyan and African record at 9.77 seconds set last year in the Moi International Stadium in Nairobi, broke Nigeria’s Seun Ogunkoya Championships record of 9.94 seconds which was set in Dakar, Senegal in 1998.

Ogunkoya will keep his record because Omanyala’s time was judged to be a wind-assisted performance at +4.5 instead of the standard +2.5.

Omanyala becomes the second Kenyan to ever win the Africa 100m title after legendary Joseph Gikonyo, who clinched gold in both the 100m and 200m at the 1990 Cairo Championships.

 “I never thought it would be that tight. Akani is a great sprinter full of experience and competing with him gave me the motivation to work hard and push more. I thought I would be ahead at 90m but they were, hence it was all about staying composed and getting through the finish line,” said Omanyala.