By Judith Gicobi
Africa's fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala suffered his first loss in the 100 meters this year at the Leichtathletik Meeting “Anhalt 2022” in Dessau, Germany on Wednesday night.
Omanyala, the world-leading sprinter with a speed of 9.85 seconds and an African record of 9.77 seconds, had beaten Sri Lankan Yupun Abeykoon Mudiyanselage in the heats with a time of 10.23 seconds.
However, Abeykoon, the current Sri Lankan national record holder, turned the tables in the final, clocking 10.06 seconds to Omanyala's 10.14 seconds.
This was Omanyala's first loss in the 100 meters this year, having won nine consecutive races prior to Wednesday.
Notably, Omanyala had won the Kip Keino Classic with the fastest time of the year of 9.85 at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi on May 7.
Abeykoon had previously won in Dessau in 2020 with a time of 10.16 seconds.
