Omanyala’s big plan to make Kenya sprint power house
Since his introduction into the athletics arena in 2016, former rugby player Ferdinand Omanyala has been phenomenal, dazzling in a myriad of races both locally and abroad.
The ambitious African 100m record continues to be a source of inspiration to many athletes and his resurgence has seen a rise in the number of short races runners yearning to give an attempt at the sport.
Before his guilt-edged victory in front of the president and a charged Kasarani Stadium on Saturday, Omanyala expressed his uttermost confidence that he will win all the races he competes in this year.
Omanyala, 22, went on to deliver his promise to fans who were in absolute delirium at the Absa Kip Keino Classic, beating World Athletics Championships silver medallists Marvin Bracy and Kenny Bednarek of USA, clocking 9.84.
Romping into routine triumph at Kasarani in a fine display, Omanyala is now the man of the moment and he has set his sight on winning a rare gold medal at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest, Hungary in August and Paris Olympics next year.
All said and done, the former rugby player says he has laid out a plan on how to make Kenya a global power house in the sprints, during and after his running career.
“I believe I will not be here forever and I don’t want to leave and go with the wave, I would like to see someone coming up every year. I want Kenya to be an industry of sprinters. That is why we have registered a company called Achievers. My hope is that we can get cooperates and governments to support this great initiative.
My plan is to have a big comp in Kenya so that people from all over the world can come and train and of course Kenyans as well.I believe we have so me many talents in this country.We are so good at the rugby sevens and the players there are basically sprinters,” Omanyala told People Daily Sport.
Unbeaten this year in his speciality,the Commonwealth Games champion is projecting an immense rise of Kenyan sprinters in the next five to ten years.
He is sketching an introduction of sprints to kids between ages ten and twelve years so as to get more results in future considering that he joined the sport while 20-years old.
The now local Athletics fans favourite believes that he has broken the mindset ceiling and short races runners can now join the bandwagon after witnessing its possibility in Kenya, country that has for a long period of time has been associated with long distance running.
“My objective is to get a big sports complex that can host these sprinters. If we can get sprinters at age 10 or 12 the better,just to develop them and when they reach 18 years they can decide if they can turn professional or join college for instance.I don’t want sprints in Kenya to end with me, I would like it to continue for the success of our country,” Omanyala added.
Some of the athletes already training with Omanyala include Dennis Nyongesa, Ivan Edalia, Emmelda Muga, Rodgers Ouma, Isaac Omurwa, Mark Kangethe, Edwin Omondi, Sarah Nabwire and Monica Safania.
