Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala has dismissed suggestions that age is beginning to catch up with him after his disappointing Commonwealth Games campaign, saying he still has plenty of room to improve.
Omanyala, 30, failed to reach the men’s 100-meter final in Glasgow after finishing sixth in his semi-final in 10.19 seconds. His bid to defend the title he won at the 2022 Commonwealth Games therefore ended sooner than expected.
But the African record holder does not believe his age was responsible for the result.
Speaking on Citizen TV’s Sporty today Monday, Omanyala said he remains confident that his best performances are still ahead of him.
“Age is not a factor in that. In fact, many athletes win races and break records at their prime, so I believe I can only get better,” he said.
The setback came after a promising start to the season.
Omanyala won the 100 metres at the Xiamen Diamond League meeting in May in 9.94 seconds, his season’s best so far. World Athletics lists his personal best and African record at 9.77 seconds, set in Nairobi in September 2021.
In Glasgow, however, Omanyala said circumstances worked against him. He revealed that he had picked up a minor injury during training before the race and struggled with the wet conditions.
“I sustained a slight injury in training before the race. So I had to deal with that and the wet conditions on that day,” he said.
The rain was heavy during the semi-finals, with the wet track making conditions difficult for the sprinters. Omanyala had also acknowledged immediately after the race that the weather had affected his performance.
Rather than dwell on the disappointment, he has turned his attention to the remainder of the season.
Omanyala plans to use the remaining Diamond League meetings to regain his rhythm and build towards next year’s World Championships.
“My focus now is to keep improving in every remaining race of the season. I want to finish the season on a high as I plan for the World Championships next year,” he said.
His season has already shown that he remains capable of competing with the world’s leading sprinters. At Xiamen, he finished ahead of South Africa’s Gift Leotlela and American Trayvon Bromell to claim the 100m victory in 9.94 seconds.
For Omanyala, Glasgow was a setback rather than a sign of decline. His immediate challenge is to turn a disappointing championship result into motivation for the races still to come.
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