World 100-metre champion, Fred Kerley with no doubt went hard at Ferdinand Omanyala after beating him at the Rabat Diamond League on May 28.
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Omanyala finished in third in 10.05 seconds at the Rabat Diamond League. However, before the race, boldly declared he was not losing any 100-metre races this season.
Kerley clocked 9.94 seconds to win the second leg of the lucrative World Athletics event, with South Africa’s Akani Simbine coming in second.
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Astonishingly, going by the quality of the athletes on the start line, the winning time of 9.94 seconds was extremely slow.
Kerley’s remarks after the Rabat race
Taking to Twitter after the race, Kerley left a cryptic post in reference to Michael Jordan’s famous line:
“And I took that personally.”
Apart from the top three, the race also boasted of World U-20 champion, Letsile Tebogo and the second-fastest human being in history, Yohan Blake, among others.
Omanyala Beaten In Blockbuster Rabat Sprint As Moraa Delights
Commonwealth champion Ferdinand Omanyala faced his first 100m loss of the year when he finished third in a star-studded line-up at the Diamond League in Rabat on Sunday.
American Fred Kerley powered to victory in 9.94s (MR) with former African record holder Simbine of South Africa second in 9.99s and Omanyala closing the podium places in 10.05s.
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World Bronze medallist Trayvon Bromell was fourth and World Junior Champion Letsile Tebogo came fifth.
Organisers had put together one of the greatest 100m line-ups in recent memory including Olympic Champion Marcell Jacobs who did not compete due to a back issue.
Omanyala made a bright start on the night but lacked his signature top-end speed to keep up with the world champion Kerley before Simbine also flew past him in the final meters.
Commonwealth champion Mary Moraa was in a different class in the women’s 800m, following up her dominant victory at the Kip Keino Classic with another impressive win.
The reigning Diamond League winner clocked 1:58.72 for her win ahead of Australia’s Catriona Bisset and American Sage Hurta-Klecker in third.
Former world junior champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi continued his fine forms over 800m with a decisive victory in the Moroccan capital.
The teenager blew away an experienced field to claim top honours in 1:44.36 ahead of Commonwealth Games champion Wycliffe Kinyamal who finished second.
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Olympic and world champion Emmanuel Korir finished further back in eighth.
Kenya’s struggles in the men’s 3000m steeplechase persisted with Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali imperious at home in what was the last event of the night.
The Olympic champion ran a personal best of 7:56.68 – the fastest time this year – to finish well ahead of Ethiopian Getnet Wale (8:05.15) and Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot (8:05.51).
Omanyala’s 2023 season
Omanyala, the Commonwealth Champion has had a good season so far, which kicked off with indoor games where he tried his hand at the shorter 60-metre event.
Success followed when he then won ASA Grand Prix in South Africa before the Continental Tour Gold Meetings in Gaborone and Nairobi.
In Rabat, however, he was usurped by Kerley, whom he beat in Kenya last year.
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Omanyala also took part in the Atlanta City Games in America, where he raced over the 150-metre distance and came in third after Noah Lyles and Erriyon Knighton.
