Sports

Kenya’s 100m star, Omanyala dreams of WAC glory

Published

9 months ago

August 19, 2023

Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya is confident of putting up a great performance as the World Athletics Championships (WAC) kicks off in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday.

Omanyala, who made history as the first Kenyan to win a 100m race at the Diamond League in Monaco last month, told the BBC that he was in great shape for the WAC.

The 27-year-old Commonwealth Games champion compared the aggression of a 100m race to a boxing match as he targets gold at the Championships ahead of the likes of Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, the junior 100m world record holder, and Jamaicans, Ackeem Blake and Yohan Blake, whom he dusted at the Diamond League to claim the victory in Monaco.

“The 100 metres is most popular because of its hype – I consider it like a boxing match,” the Kenyan police officer told BBC Sport Africa.

“In a boxing match, there’s a lot of hype around it, there’s a lot of media and the 100m race is like nine seconds of aggression.

“The concentration of a human being is 45 seconds. So for nine seconds, you understand that people pay a lot of attention, and it’s most interesting.

“For 100m athletes, I can say they’re very hyper-hyperactive, so that’s why we make the sport interesting,” Omanyala said.

The Kenyan athlete stormed to the top of Africa’s 100m spot after running a stunning 9.77 seconds in 2021, and claimed gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham after running 10.02secs.

At the 2024 Nairobi Kip Keino Classic in May, Omanyala ran a season best 9.84secs to win in a strong field of top athletes and is now targeting a first 100m podium finish at the World Championships.

The African continent has had great performances at the WAC with the likes of Namibia’s Frankie Fredericks winning in the men’s 200m, while Francis Obikwelu, who once starred for
Nigeria before switching allegiance to Portugal, and South Africans, Anaso Jobodwana and Wayde van Niekerk, also making the podium in the 200m race.

However, the continent has never won in the 100m and Omanyala is upbeat on changing the narrative.

“Africa has never medalled in this race and that’s something I want to break. I want to change that, so I want to win a medal – I want to win the gold.

“Going in as one of the top sprinters, people are looking at and counting on you – people are counting you in that medal bracket. I’m going for nothing less than a gold”, he said.

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Sports

Zambia’s women national team coach face new sexual assault allegation

Published

11 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Zambia women national team coach, Bruce Mwape, is facing new allegations of sexual assault and misconduct at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, prompting an investigation by world football governing body, FIFA.

Mwape who is currently facing allegations of sexual harassment after some of his players laid accusations against him, has been accused by a female FIFA contractor of inappropriately touching her breast during the tournament.

A report on the Fifa website disclosed that the body received an official complaint accusing the 64-year-old Mwape of touching the breast of a FIFA contractor from New Zealand.

The complainant is quoted to have told Fifa officials that Mwape had inappropriately touched her breasts in a suggestive manner.

“I remember him putting his hand on my shoulder to say ‘Good morning,’ but then he went again and wiped his hand straight down the front, obviously touching my boob,” the contractor reportedly said.

“It happened so quickly. It felt wrong to me but I also questioned whether it had just been a mistake. But after that, his relationship with me was very different. So I think he knew what he had done was not appropriate,” the unnamed contractor added.

The incident, according to the report, allegedly occurred while the team was staying at an Auckland hotel before their match against Spain.

Sports

Botswanan Tebogo hits at Kenyan Omanyala over claims of being African sprint king

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Botswanan sprint sensation,
Letsile Tebogo, has hit back at Kenyan 100m champion, Ferdinand Omanyala, over claims that he is the king of African sprint.

Omanyala, in an Track and Field network in April, had laid claims to being the true king of Africa in sprints having risen to prominence in 2021 when he set the record as the fastest man in the continent when he ran 9.77 at the 3rd edition of the Absa Kip Keino classic.

The following year, Omanyala won the 2022 African title in Mauritius, as well as the 100m gold at the Commonwealth Games, feats he believes bestows on him the title of Africa’s king of the sprint.

Though it has not been all rosy for the 28-year-old Omanyala as he has faltered at some big stages having failed to make the final of the Olympic games in Tokyo in 2021 and finished a disappointing seventh at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last year, he still believes he is head and shoulders above other African stars.

On the other hand, 20-year-old Tebogo has already scored medals in both the 100 and 200m races at the highest stage, which has given him the right to question Omanyala’s claims

“I do not have anything to say. Everything will reveal itself as time goes on,” Tebogo said in an interview with the same Track and Field network on Tuesday.

“To me, it does not make sense if you are the African champion, but where it mattered the most, he could not step in,” he added.

Tebogo who has proven his mettle in the 200m which he claims is the easiest race to compete in, believes it should also be used as a gauge to test the fastest men in the continent apart from just the 100m.

“The 100 is very tactical. Any day can be your day. I believe we should include both races,” he added.