Omanyala blasts 9.85 to set new world lead in 100m
After twenty pulsating events, the world stood still for the event of the day, the men’s 100m. With news that Lamont Marcell Jacobs had pulled out of the 5:50 pm race, all eyes were on Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala against Fred Kerley. After a faulty start, the seven world-class athletes who included Mike Rodgers of the USA, Isaiah Young and Italy’s Filipo Tortu got down to business and there burst the fastest men in the world, each chasing Omanyala who seemed unreachable.
After 30 meters, the race went down to two as the Kenyan superstar and the American raced to see who was going to be fastest in Africa’s “fastest” track.
It was during the second Kip Keino Classic that Omanyala set a new African record (9.77) and he knew exactly what to do to maintain the status quo. He might have fallen short of the intended time but he did enough to win his first Kip Keino classic race.
With President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga cheering from the front, Omanyala eased past the Olympic silver medalist Kerley in a time of 9.85 with Kerley posting a season best of 9.92 to finish second.
The raced missed quite a little spark after Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs(9.80) pulled out of the race on Saturday morning due to a stomach ache.
Focus now shifts to the Doha Diamond League set for May 13.
