Tokyo Olympics: Beacon of hope Omanyala misses100m final by a whisker

Chief athletics writer

Ferdinand Omanyala’s fairytale run at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics came to end at the semi finals on Sunday when he finished third in his heat, after clocking an impressive 10.00 seconds, a new National Record for the easy-go kid.

He has been setting and breaking his own records at will and it remains unclear how far he can go.

Omanyala could have qualified as one of the best losers but Heat 3 produced some mind-blowing contests with all the top four clocking under 10 seconds, locking the University of Nairobi student out.

Chinese Su Bingtian won this heat in 9.83 seconds, followed by USA’s Baker Ronnie(9.83),  Italy’s Jacobs Lmaont(9.84), and South Africa’s Simbine Akani(9.90) hence denying Omanyala what would have been an emotional and historic final.

Placed in Heat 1, Omanyala had a slow start but gathered momentum with fast charging steps, pushing Heat 1  winner, USA’s Fred Kerley (9.96) and runners up Andre Grasse(9.98) all the way to the finish line.

Despite missing out on the final after finishing out of the two first automatic spots, Omanyala will have something to smile about as he once again lowered his own national record of 10.01 seconds which lasted only less than 24 hours.

His performances in Nigeria, at the National Trials at Kasarani, and now at Olympics in Tokyo has caught the national psyche, making him a new hero and beckon of hope heading into future assignments.

The 100m final will be held later Sunday afternoon.