This archive report was first published on 3 September 2021.
On Friday, September 3, 2021, Kenya's 100m record holder Ferdinand Omanyala made his Diamond League debut at the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels, finishing fourth in the event.
Despite a strong performance, Omanyala clocked 10.02 seconds, falling behind the US sprinting trio of Kerley, Bromell, and Norman, who took the top three spots with times of 9.94, 9.97, and 9.98 seconds, respectively.
Notably, Omanyala's performance marked a significant achievement, as he defeated South Africa's Akani Simbine, the fastest man in Africa, who ran a 9.84 seconds in his debut.
With this performance, Omanyala has solidified his position as one of the top sprinters in Africa, currently ranking as the joint second-fastest African alongside Namibian legend Frankie Fredericks, but behind Simbine.
