Ferdinand Omanyala, Africa’s 100m record holder, has pledged to recover quickly from his setback in Oregon and better his time in the upcoming Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Omanyala overcame a visa issue to enter Oregon before sailing to the 100m semi-finals, becoming the first Kenyan to do so.
He did not make it to the final of the event on Sunday morning, finishing fifth in his heat with a time of 10.14 seconds.
Omanyala in an exclusive interview on Tuesday said that he will forget his painful experience and focus on a podium result in Birmingham.
“I’m looking forward to a great championship in Birmingham and I’ll just get back to training and gauge the state of my body. I’m looking forward to better the time that I ran here and enjoy and have fun,” Omanyala said.
Omanyala stated that his struggle to obtain a visa on time caused him to come late and be exhausted at the event.
“It was a long journey but I thank the ministry for booking me into a business class which made my journey less hectic,” Omanyala said in an interview with Capital FM.
“At least I got to sleep a bit but you can’t escape the jet lag as long as you are in the air. It was easy because at least I got to run in the last heat. I did some warm-up and qualified for the semi-finals. From the semi-finals, it was a bit hard because I woke feeling so heavy.”
“I was getting some better starts but I couldn’t just get the acceleration that I usually have. I never had that push that carries me through the last 50m. I guess that’s where the time was not going to be good.”
Omanyala was under enormous pressure to reach record heights, yet he was able to keep the situation under control.
He considered his season amazing, saying he had accomplished more than he had anticipated.
“This has been a great season. We started way back in February with the indoor games where I broke the national record.
“I then went to the Africa Championship and bagged two gold medals in the relay and 100 meters which was a historic moment for Kenya.”
Omanyala congratulated Fred Kerley on his championship, saying that if he had made the final, he would have beaten him.
