photo credit: standard media
Ferdinand Omanyala Africa’s 100m record holder failed to qualify for the finals of the World Athletics Championship after finishing the fifth position. The competition that was held at Hayward Field, Oregon, United States was cleaned sweep by Americans who dominated winning all the medals.
The Kenyan sprinter clocked a time of 10.14 seconds which was 0.4 seconds slower as compared to the 10.10 seconds that he registered on Heat 7 to qualify for the semis. He came behind Oblique Seville of Jamaica (9.09), Marvin Bracy of Jamaica, (9.93), Aaaron Brown of Canada (10.06), and Oghene Ashe of Nigeria (10.12).
In a post shared on his social media account, Omanyala tweeted saying “Every challenge you face today makes you stronger tomorrow. The challenge of life is intended to make you better, not bitter. Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems. No matter how much falls on us, we keep moving.”
Fred Kerley edged Bracy and Bromell in blanket finish who came second and third respectively to win the men’s 100-metres gold medal. Kerley finished with a time of 9.86 seconds while silver medalist Marvin Bracy and Bronze winner Trayvon Bromell both had 9.88 seconds.
It was a day to remember for the home fans following the dominance as the United State of America a sports dominant nation hosted the World Championship event for the first time. Akani Simbine of South Africa made an effort in the final but it was not to be after winning the first semi-final in 9.97 seconds.
In his post on Twitter after qualifying for the final Simbine wrote;
“Nobody talked about me coming into the championships, but I am the guy that’s always in the final and making sure the continent has a lane in the final.”
“I wish Omanyala had a smooth ride, It would have been nice to have him in the final with me.”
