Omanyala overcomes jet lag to qualify for 100m semis

• He arrived in Eugene three hours before the race
• Omanyala finished third to qualify for the semis
• He has been lined up in Heat Three for the Sunday morning race

African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala overcame immense jet lag to finish third in his 100m Heat and qualify for the semi-finals at the World Championships in Eugene, USA.

Omanyala arrived in Eugene just three hours to the race following delayed visa issues and got straight to the stadium, with little time to warm up and recover, and managed to squeeze in to the semis.

The Kenyan clocked 10.10secs to finish third behind Abdul Hakim Sani Brown of Japan who won the race in a season’s best time of 9.98secs while Australia’s Edward Osei-Nketia set a new National record, finishing second with a 10.08secs time on the clock.

Omanyala started unusually slower off the blocks, very keen to ensure his reaction time is not close to a false start and throw away all the sacrifice he had made.

But he powered home with his trademark burst in the second half of the race, powering home to squeeze in over the line for the top three automatic slots.

Lines up in Heat Three

Ferdinand Omanyala. PHOTO/Capital Sports

He will line up in Heat Three of the semi-finals on Sunday morning. For competition, Omanyala will have to contend with homeboy Marvin Bracy and Jamaican Oblique Seville. Both won their heats, Bracy clocking 10.05secs while the Jamaican dropped a sub-10, timing 9.93secs.

The African record holder’s focus will now be on ensuring he recovers in the best way possible to ensure he is fit as a fiddle within 24 hours. The top two from all the three Heats progress to the final and will be joined by the two fastest outside the top two across the three heats.

Meanwhile, Conseslus Kipruto, Abraham Kibiwott and Leonard Bett all progressed to the final of the men’s steeplechase while Olympic bronze medalist Benjamin Kigen missed out.

Conseslus finished second in his heat while Bett and Kibiwott finished second and third in theirs.

Bett and Kibiwott ran in Heat One which also had Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali. The Kenyan duo was behind the leading pack of El Bakkali and Ethiopian Getnet Wale at the bell, but at the home straight, they manage to curve from the outside, taking second and third.

Bett timed 8:16:94 to come second while Kibiwott clocked 8:17.04. This was the quickest heat with the Olympic champion winning in 8:16.65.

Conseslus eases to second place

Abraham Kibiwott and Conseslus Kipruto

Meanwhile, Conseslus timed 8:20.12 to come second in Heat Two behind Ethiopian Lamecha Girma whom he beat in the 2019 final in Doha. Girma clocked 8:19.64 while Kenyan turned American Hillary Bor was third to qutomatically qualify.

The Kenyan was fourth as the leading pack went over the final hurdle, but just like Bett and Kibiwott before him sneaked through the outside to edge into second.

In the women’s 1500m, defending champion faith Kipyegon and African champion Winny Chebet both progressed to the semis while Edinah Jebitok and Judith Kiyeng fell by the wayside.

She easily won her Heat in 4:04.53 in a race which she controlled from start to finish, managing her energy to ensure she has enough in the tank for the semis and the final.

Chebet second in her heat

Chebet finished second in her heat with a powered sprint in the final 50m, clocking 4:03.12 behind Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay who timed 4:02.68.

Kiyeng and Jebitok finished ninth in their respective heats.

Earlier on, Kenya missed out on medals in the men and women’s 20km walk. Samuel Gathimba came closest, but he was edged out in the final kilometre to finish fourth. Gathimba timed 1:19:25, just seven seconds shy of a bronze medal place, beaten to it by Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom.