- Omanyala was due to race against Yohan Blake
- He says he wants to focus on the Africa Championship
- Omanyala has won all but one of his races this season
Ferdinand Omanyala, the 100m African record holder has pulled out of tonight’s Ostrava Golden Spike Continental Gold Tour meeting to focus more on being ready for the Africa Athletics Championship scheduled for next week in Mauritius.
Organizers announced that Omanyala communicated his decision to pull out last week after his second race of his European Tour in Germany.
They announced that Omanyala said he picked up a strain and didn’t want to risk aggravating it, as he eyes his first ever Continental title in Mauritius. Omanyala himself says that he wanted to focus more on recovering and being fully fit for his next big assignment.
“I would have had very little time to recover if I went and competed in Ostrava so we thought it wise with my management to come back home and not go to Ostrava. Right now, my focus is just on the African championships and that is what I am putting all effort in,” said Omanyala.
He had started his tour of Europe by running a new meeting record of 10.11secs at the International Castiglione Athletic Meeting at Zecchini Stadium in Grosseto, Italy, breaking the previous mark of 10.31secs held by Olympic Champion Marcel Jacobs.
Ferdinand Omanyala storms to victory in the men’s 100m
He built on the win with another victory in the 200m where he clocked 20.50secs.
He moved to Germany, but suffered his first 100m loss of the season after finishing second at the 24th Internationales Leichtathletik meeting at the Paul Greifzu Stadium in Saxony-Anhalt.
Omanyala clocked 10.14secs to come in second behind lanky Sri Lankan Mudiyanselage Yupun Abeykoon who clocked a new Personal best time of 10.04secs.
Now, he wants the African title, and he wants three. He will compete in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m in Mauritius.
“Yes, I have the African record, but I don’t want to be a record holder without a title. I want to go to Mauritius and win three African titles. I know it will be tough but it is possible. I have prepared myself well for that and I will give my best,” he said.
The Kenyan is also building up towards the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships which are scheduled for the end of July, where he also hopes to medal.
Ferdinand Omanyala competing at the Athletics Kenya National Championship. PHOTO/Capital FM
Meanwhile in Ostrava in his absence, all Kenyan eyes will be on youngster Emmanuel Wanyonyi who will compete in the 800m, looking to clock a second victory after winning the Gold Tour meet at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi early this month.
He will have a competitive field to contend with, which includes Botswana’s Nijel Amos, a former Olympic champion.
Others in the field include compatriot Noah Kibet who won a world indoor silver medal as well as Poland’s Olympic bronze medallist Patryk Dobek and Bosnian two-time world medallist Amel Tuka.
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