Kenya's Fastest Man, Ferdinand Omanyala yet again made history after shattering his own record at the Austrian Meet on Saturday, 14th of August. The 25 year old Speedster finally managed to run in under 10 sec. Fresh from the Tokyo Olympic Games where he twice broke his own record, Omanyala clocked 9.86s in 100m, just a few minutes after clocking 9.96s. Omanyala now becomes the first Kenyan to dip under 10 seconds and joins the elite class of sprinters to have achieved that feat.
Jamaican legend sprinter Usain Bolt holds the world record of 9.58 seconds and the Olympics Record of 9.63 seconds. Having taken up athletics in 2016, Omanyala had taken a huge risk as he decided to abandon his rugby prospects despite having the physique for the sport. But that now looks like a risk that is paying off and thanks to his coach Duncan Ayiemba, he was able to concentrate in sprints.
At the Tokyo Olympics, the Kenya sprinter showed a lot of promise as he qualified for the 100m semi-finals in the Tokyo Olympics after finishing third in Heat 5. Omanyala clocked 10.01, which equalled his personal best as he finished in third place in heat one. In the semis, he ran an even better race as he clocked another personal best of 10.00 seconds but unfortunately bowed out. Omanyala is now aiming his sights even higher hoping to improve with every race as every second counts.