Omanyala reveals past Olympic 100m race he would have loved to compete in

Omanyala reveals past Olympic 100m race he would have loved to compete in

Mark Kinyanjui 19:07 - 11.05.2024

The legendary race Omanyala fantasized about being a part of included sprint legends Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, and America's Justin Gatlin.

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala has revealed his dream 100m lineup as he continues to step up preparations for the upcoming Olympic Games set to take place in Paris, France.

Omanyala is the reigning Commonwealth Games champion and set the ninth fastest time in 2021 at the 3rd edition of the KipKeino Classic, when he clocked an insane speed of 9.77 seconds, finishing second behind Trayvon Bromell, who himself set the sixth fastest time of 9.76 when he finished first.

Justin Gatlin, who decided to retire after that race, finished third. Omanyala appeared on the American's Ready Set Go podcast earlier this week, where he spoke about his career in general and targets, and it was at that point where he was asked who he would select as his dream competitors.

Unsurprisingly, Omanyala revealed that the 100m race at the 2012 Olympic finals, which to this day, is the fastest race in the history of the games, is the one he would have liked to be a part of.

That race saw the legendary Usain Bolt defend his gold medal in a Games-record of 9.63. Compatriot Yohan Blake, 9.75, took silver, and Gatlin, the 2004 Athens Olympic champion, earned bronze in 9.79.

Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, who failed to finish the race after picking up an injury midway through the race, were also part of that lineup.

“I would want to be in the 2012 Olympics finals (100m),” Omanyala said.

Asked about which lane he would have liked to take, Omanyala opted for the tricky lane one or lane nine, picking the humble card as he would just have wanted to be a part of history.

“I would go to lane nine or lane one just to be in there.”

The former rugby winger has also offered some words of advice to upcoming athletes before signing out of the podcast.

“To all upcoming athletes, never put pressure on yourself and have that mentality of never giving up because if you do, people will just forget you and move on to the next person, so keep striving, keep working hard and one day, the doors and windows will open.”

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