Ferdinand Omanyala Ditches 2024 Mistake That Ruined His Paris Olympics Campaign

Ferdinand Omanyala beaten at Kip Keino Classic. (Credit: Imago)

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Ferdinand Omanyala is poised to compete at the sixth edition of the Kip Keino Classic. (Credit: Imago)

Ferdinand Omanyala Ditches 2024 Mistake That Ruined His Paris Olympics Campaign

Abigael Wafula 14:30 - 28.05.2025

Ferdinand Omanyala has revealed he is abandoning his 2024 strategy after it backfired at the Paris Olympics.

Ferdinand Omanyala will resume his normal schedule of competing in a lot of races in the build-up to the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in September.

Africa’s fastest man revealed that they embraced a different strategy in 2024 and that move cost them a lot at the Paris Olympic Games.

Ferdinand Omanyala only competed in more than 15 races, but admitted that the competitions did not set him up nicely for the Paris Olympic Games, hence his dismal performances.

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Just like at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Ferdinand Omanyala did not go past the semifinal of the men’s 100m.

Ferdinand Omanyala won the 100m heats at the Paris Olympic Games, clocking 10.08 seconds before finishing eighth in the semifinal, clocking the same time, but that was not enough to secure him a place in the final.

Ferdinand Omanyala: We Are Not Repeating the Same Mistake

Ferdinand Omanyala
Ferdinand Omanyala

For the 2025 season, Ferdinand Omanyala revealed that it is still early in the season, and he has a chance of making things right ahead of the global showpiece.

“It’s still early in the season, and we don’t want to make the same mistake we made at the Paris Olympic Games last year. Going into Paris, we under-raced, and so by the time we were getting into Paris for the Olympics, we were still getting into the rhythm,” Ferdinand Omanyala said.

Ferdinand Omanyala has already started his season on a high despite skipping the indoor tour. He opened his 2025 with a 100m race at an Athletics Kenya weekend meet at the Thika Stadium.

The Commonwealth Games champion then competed in two races in South Africa, where he finished third and first respectively, before heading to the Ugandan National trials, where he dominated.

In no time, Ferdinand Omanyala was in action at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix, where he finished second behind Akani Simbine.

Omanyala then kick-started his Diamond League campaign in Xiamen, where he finished second yet again behind Akani Simbine before competing in Suzhou, finishing ninth.

He then made history with Kenya’s 4x100m relay at the World Athletics Relays, qualifying for the World Championships. Ferdinand Omanyala’s latest competitions include a win at the Atlanta City Games in the 150m and a second-place finish at the Diamond League Meeting in Rabat.

His next competition will be at Saturday’s Kip Keino Classic, where he will be competing in the 100m against Bayanda Walaza and Mark Otieno, among other stars.