Hungry Omanyala sets sight on Africa 200m title

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala is not done yet despite clinching two historic African titles in Mauritius.

“I came here for three gold medals...two are in the basket and one more to go. The hunt is still on for the 200 metres title,” Omanyala declared confidently after anchoring Kenya to the historic 4x100m victory at the Africa Senior Athletics Championships at Cote d’Or National Sports Complex in Reduit on Friday.

Omanyala and his gold-winning teammates in 4x100m relay, Mike Mokamba and Dan Kiviasi, will line up in the 200m starting 8.55am on Saturday.

National 200m champion and record holder Maximilla Imali, Milicent Ndoro and Eunice Kadogo will also be taking the blocks in women’s race at 8:15am.

Omanyala will once again be eager to rewrite history by emulating what legendary Joseph Gikonyo achieved 32 years ago in winning both the 100m and 200m titles at the 1990 Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Cairo.

Omanyala, who has personal best 20.33 seconds also hopes to break the Championship Record of 19.99 set by Frankie Fredricks set during the 1998 championships in Annaba, Algeria.

In case Omanyala wins, then he will be the third Kenyan to hold the Africa 200m title after Samuel Kipkemboi, who won in 1985 in Cairo and Gikonyo in 1990 also in Cairo.

Notably, Calvin Nkanata holds the National Record of 20.14 set in 2015 while Fredricks has the African Record of 19.68 achieved at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

Omanyala, who had on Thursday made history as the second Kenyan to win the 100m title, took over the baton from Samuel Imeta, Kiviasi and Mokamba before cruising home victorious in 39.28 seconds.

The feat by Omanyala's quartet once again relegated Akani Simbine’s defending champions South Africa to second place in 39.79.

Zimbabwe claimed bronze in 39.81 with Nigeria, who took silver at home in 2018 settling fourth in 39.98.

 “We have shown the world that we can and Athletics Kenya should take this positively and take us to more 4x100m competitions,” said Omanyala, who commended his teammates for the great job done upon gesturing triumphantly to the finishing line.

“You can’t compare this to the 100m final yesterday. The 100m affair was one of my toughest races but I enjoyed this one.

“My teammates did a great job since I was the first anchor to get the baton. It made my work easier as I had all the fun pushing to the line,” explained Omanyala.

Omanyala, who holds the Africa record over 100m of 9.77 said that they were trying to chase the time for a sub 39 seconds but the weather wasn’t perfect for them.

"You know we are also focusing on qualifying for the world Championships," said Omanyala.

The World Athletics Championships will be held from July 15 to 24 this year in Oregon, United States.