On Wednesday, 13th April, Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala made history by shattering his own Africa 100m record at the ASA Athletics Grandprix 4 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
With a season's best time of 9.98 seconds, Omanyala outpaced South African Commonwealth Games champion Akani Simbine, who finished second in a time of 10.11 seconds, his own season's best.
Simbine's South African counterpart Bradley Nkoana trailed behind, finishing third in 10.38 seconds. This achievement marked Omanyala's second win over Simbine, following their first meeting at the 2021 Diamond League in Brussels.
Speaking after the race, Omanyala emphasized that his focus was on beating his own time, rather than competing against Simbine. 'My main aim was to run under 10 and I was not competing against him (Simbine) I was running against the finish line. I've achieved what I came to achieve in South Africa. It was a good start to the season and when you run these times at this point in the season then you're expecting a good season going forward,' Omanyala said.
With this impressive win, Omanyala is now gearing up for the Diamond League, the World Championships in Oregon, and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
