100m Commonwealth Champion Ferdinand Omanyala has expressed optimism despite being stunned at the sixth Absa Kip Keino Classic Continental Tour gold series at the Ulinzi Sports Complex on Saturday, May 31, 2025.
Africa’s fastest man finished third after clocking 10.07 seconds, improving on his fifth finish in 2024’s edition at Nyayo Stadium. Australian Lachlan Kennedy emerged victorious with a personal best of 9.98, ahead of South African teenager Bayanda Walaza, who won silver in 10.03 seconds.
The 21-year-old Kennedy got off the blocks superbly at the sixth stop of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series and powered through a strong headwind at the Ulinzi Sports Complex to claim victory in 9.98 seconds.
Kennedy became only the second Australian man ever to break 10 seconds in the short sprint, joining Patrick Johnson, who did so back in 2003.
Express optimism
This was the second time running Omanyala failed to win the race in front of the home supporters who turned up in large numbers to cheer him on.
Despite the bad day in the office, Omanyala did not allow the results to drag him down. In his post-race interview, Omanyala exuded confidence, informing his fans that he would be keen to correct the mistakes.
Omanyala, who was the favourite to win the 100m, indicated that he would be keen to execute the lessons learned during his next race.
“Not a good race as we wanted, but of course, we are correcting mistakes as we move on. Of course, we expected faster, but it’s already gone. Now we are going into the next phase, looking to execute things that we have not done,” Omanyala stated.
“I want to appreciate the fans for coming out and cheering me on. The atmosphere was electrifying. We have been working on the transition part for the last couple of days, and we are looking to put things together,” he added.
“I am looking forward to posting better times. My next race will be at the Rome Diamond League next week.”
Other results
Before Omanyala’s somewhat rather underwhelming showing, Kenya had plenty to smile about, with Lilian Odira claiming the women’s 800m title with a lung-bursting run.
The 26-year-old African championship silver medalist stopped the clock at 1:58.31, a huge personal best that is also a Tokyo 2025 World Championship qualifying standard.
Mary Moraa’s cousin also raised the Kenyan flag higher after finishing third with her personal best of 1:58.96.
In the 400m women, Mary Oketch broke the Kenya national record in a Tokyo 2025 World Championship standard time of 50.14 seconds, lowering the national record of 50.38 seconds set by Mary Moraa at the same event in 2023.
Mercy Chebet won bronze in the race behind Ugandan Leni Shida.By Lutta Njomo, People Daily
