Ferdinand Omanyala cruises into 100m semis in Budapest
Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala crosses the finish line in the men's 100m heats during the World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on August 19, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Omanyala, the Africa 100m champion, took off the blocks well and led all the way before he slowed to see American world 200m champion Noah Lyles to win in 9.95 seconds.
Commonwealth Games champion Ferdinand Omanyala slowed down in the last 10 metres to finish second but reach the semi-finals in the men’s 100 metres at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday.
Omanyala, the Africa 100m champion, took off the blocks well and led all the way before he slowed to see American world 200m champion Noah Lyles to win in 9.95 seconds.
The 27-year-old Africa 100m record holder clocked 9.97 in the second heat where Nigerian Usheoritse Itsekiri came third in 10.17 in the championships taking place in Budapest, Hungary.
World under-20 100m champion and record holder Letsile Tebogo from Botswana won the fourth heat in 10.11 while the world 100m defending champion Fred Kerley also slowed down to finish second in the fifth heat.
Jamaican Oblique Seville cruised to victory in the heat in a personal best 9.86 as Kerley timed 9.99 with Swede Henrik Larsson seizing the third and last qualifying slot in the heat in 10.16.
Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs from Italy battled for third place in season’s best 10.15 in the sixth heat, which was enough to put him through to the semi-finals. Canadian Sani Brown won the heat in 10.07.
Former Africa and Commonwealth Games 100m champion Akani Simbine from South Africa clocked 9.97 to win the seventh heat, beating the 2019 world 100m champion Christian Coleman to second place in 9.98.
The semi-finals are scheduled for Sunday at 4.35pm followed by the final at 7.10pm the same day.
Elsewhere, World indoor bronze medallist Abel Kipsang, world under-20 champion Reynold Kipkorir and the 2019 world champion Timothy Cheruiyot are through to the semi-finals of the men’s 1,500metres at the World Athletics Championships.
Kipsang displayed strong front-running to put away the fourth heat in the men’s 1,500m in three minutes and 34.08 seconds.
Kipsang, who finished seventh during the world championships in Oregon, United States of America last year, edged out American Yared Nuguse to second place in 3:34.16 as Adam Spencer from Australia settled third in 3:34.17 to all qualify.
Kipkorir cruised at the middle of the charging pack to finish third in 3:34.24 in the first heat as Olympic 1,500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway jogged home to win the heat in 3:33.94.
Ingebrigtsen claimed silver in 1,500m before clinching the 5,000m title in Oregon last year.
Cheruiyot, who claimed silver in 2017 London, took to his front-running trade mark but his legs wilted at the home straight to finish sixth in 3:47.09.
Cheruiyot, making his fifth appearance at the global event, had done enough to grab the last qualifying slot by a whisker in the second heat. The 2022 European 1,500m bronze medallist Mario García from Spain won the heat in 3:46.77.
