Kenya’s national champion Omanyala eager to write more history at 2020 Tokyo Olympics
By People Reporter, July 9, 2021Edwin Otieno
Ferdinand Omanyala’s Olympic dream is almost becoming a reality. The University of Nairobi Bachelor of Science in Pure Chemistry student started his Olympic journey five years ago.
“It is everybody’s dream to compete at the Olympics. I’m so glad I made it. It is my first actually,” said Omanyala after his Wednesday training at Kasarani Stadium.
The 24-year-old sprinter set a national record of 10.02 seconds at his last attempt to qualify for the Olympic games. This, he says, is actually not his best.
“There are so many things I can do better, especially at the start off the blocks. I did not start off very well even at the trials, so that is what we are working on in the camp,” he said.
Omanyala became an instant hero when he together with Mark Otieno qualified for the Olympics in the 100m, the first Kenyans to qualify to represent the country at the Summer Games over the 100m distance.
This he says, is not a distraction for him as he celebrates his new found fame.
He said: “I’m used to it by now, but I thank Olympics Kenya for keeping us in camp. At least nobody comes in here and I can focus on training and training alone.”
Omanyala is going into the uncharted waters of the Olympic games, the biggest stage for any professional athlete.
Other than putting pressure on himself, he says he will handle each race as it comes, and try to break as many records as he can along the way.
Kenya is known for middle and long distance where they dominate from the 800m to the marathons.
The two qualifiers are now turning heads with each performance on the track.
“We have already changed that, because if you see, there are many sprinters coming through, and me and Mark have shown that we can do well in the sprints. We just have to show the world what we can do,” said the sprinter.
Omanyala is a big rugby fan and played the sport in school before switching to sprinting. For many athletes in the 100m, long jump is also an option as well as the 200m.
He says he will try long jump at some point in his career but just for fun, though 200m is already an option for him.
“I do 200m as well, I have done so many of them. But this year we decided to focus on 100m because I had a little problem with my calf so I decided to leave 200m and focus on the 100m,” he said.
The heavily built athlete feels everything is going on well, especially working with coach Kimani who doubles up as the strength and conditioning coach for team Kenya.
With three weeks to the Olympics, the sprinter says he fears no one and is ready for the challenge. In his own words, “I want to break records, because I feel I am very fast!!”