On March 13, 2021, Mark Otieno put his spikes firmly down to beat national 100m champion Ferdinand Omanyala once again and win the 100m final at the second leg of Athletics Kenya Track and Field Meeting at Kasarani stadium.
This is a rare battle that we have witnessed in the short distance but then a new King has been born. Ferdinand Omanyala finally set a new national record over the distance on Tuesday, clocking 10.01 seconds at the ongoing Betking MoC Grand Prix at Yabatech Sports Complex in Lagos, Nigeria.
The record time if ratified will erase Mark Otieno’s record time of 10.14sec set on June 10, 2017.
What waits to be seen is whether Omanyala will be allowed to represent the country in the Tokyo Olympic Games after surpassing the targeted mark of 10.05sec.
In 2018 the Kenyatta University student was handed a 14 month ban by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) for using banned substances. He together with three other athletes Peter Kiptoo, Nicholas Kiplagat and Micheal Rotich tested positive for doping.
Athletics Kenya (AK) and the government have indicated that any athlete sanctioned for a doping offence will not represent the country in any championship events.