Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala for the second-week running came in second position in a World Athletics Continental Silver Tour.

Omanyala was beaten by American Noah Lyle’s in the 100m at the ISTAF Berlin 2022 in Germany on Sunday.

Despite Omanyala boasting of the fastest time on the list lined up with a season-best of 9.85 seconds did not perform as expected.

On the other hand, Lyles entered the race with third-fastest times this season on the entry list of 10.05 behind Omanyala (9.85) and Ivorian Arthur Cisse (10.02), stunned all to bag the crown in a new season best of 9.95.

Omanyala was pushed to second place and clocked 10.11 for second place as Jeremiah Azu of Great Britain wrapped up the podium places with 10.16 on the nine-man list.

Africa and Commonwealth Games champion Omanyala, before the race in Berlin had settled for a second place during the Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern in Switzerland on August 30, 2022.

Omanyala managed to finish second in 10.18secs, behind Bracy who won the race in 10.17secs.

The Kenyan sprinter was competing in his first tournament since his heroics in the Commonwealth Games.

Omanyala who doubles up as a policeman put up a worthy fight despite the wet and chilly conditions in the European countries.

The African record holder started side by side with American Bracy as they lined out in lanes four and five, but it was Bracy who had just the slightest of nudges to finish ahead.

Omanyala now heads to the World Athletics Continental Gold Tour, the Memorial Borisa Hanžekovića on September 9 to 11 at Sports Park Mladost, Zagreb, Croatia.

Meanwhile, the 2023 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China,has been postponed until 2025 due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic in China. The Championship was scheduled for March 17 to 19, 2023. 

Indoor Championships

Nanjing was initially selected to host the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Championships, which were postponed until March 2021, and then postponed for a second time until March 2023. 

As the pandemic continues in China, the event has now been pushed back another two years. 

The meet takes place every two years. The next edition will be in Glasgow, Scotland in March 2024. 

The bidding process has already begun for the 2026 edition of the championships, which is why 2025 has been designated for these championships in Nanjing.

“We are disappointed that we have had to postpone this event again due to circumstances beyond our control, but we have done so to give certainty to athletes and Member Federations preparing for the 2023 competition season,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said.

Coe also said the short time frame will prevent World Athletics from relocating the 2023 event. 

The 2023 World Athletics (Outdoor) Championships are still scheduled to take place in Budapest, Hungary, in August next year. 

Despite this postponement, World Athletics will still offer athletes competitive opportunities in the early part of 2023 through the World Athletics Indoor Tour, which will have a full calendar of events from January to March for the world’s best athletes to chase qualifying times for the 2024 World Indoor Championships.