Ferdinand Omanyala Fires Another Sub-10 to Beat Gift Leotlela, Kenny Bednarek, Letsile Tebogo and Co in Xiamen Thriller

Ferdinand Omanyala silenced Gift Leotlela, Trayvon Bromell, Kenny Bednarek and Co to claim the win in the men’s 100m at the Diamond League Meeting in Xiamen on Saturday, May 23.

Africa’s fastest man clocked a stunning 9.94 seconds, his fifth consecutive sub-10 performance of the season to claim top honours.

South Africa’s Gift Leotlela, who won the Diamond League Meeting in Shanghai, was forced to settle for second place in a time of 10.00 seconds. American Trayvon Bromell rounded up the podium in 10.03 seconds.

Kenny Bednarek finished just outside the podium bracket, crossing the finish line in a time of 10.03 seconds, with Akani Simbine coming in fifth (10.04). Christian Coleman and Letsile Tebogo were forced to settle for seventh and eighth in respective times of 10.08 and 10.10.

The reigning Commonwealth Games champion has enjoyed an amazing outdoor season so far, running four sub-10s before his meeting in Xiamen.

Ferdinand Omanyala started his season indoors, competing at the Meeting de Paris Indoor, Elite Indoor Track Miramas Meeting and Russian Winter Games.

Omanyala then opened his outdoor season at the Lefika International Relays in Botswana, before lining up for his first 100m race of the season at the Cape Miller Continental Tour. He won the race in 10.19 seconds.

The 30-year-old then clocked his first sub-10 at the Addis Ababa Grand Prix, winning the race in a time of 9.98 seconds.

He then improved his time at the Kip Keino Classic, winning the men’s 100m race in 9.96 seconds. Ferdinand Omanyala then headed to the Botswana Golden Grand Prix, where he rounded up the podium in 9.95 seconds.

He was part of Team Kenya to the World Athletics Relays, but the men’s 4x100m relay team did not qualify for the World Championships in Beijing in 2027. However, they set a national record time of 38.27 seconds.

His most recent performance was at the Diamond League Meeting in Shanghai, where he was second in 9.98 seconds, with Gift Leotlela claiming top honours in the race in 9.97 seconds.

“I ran under 10, and I was satisfied. The result is good, and we move on from there. I’m used to competing, so it was a good run. Before the race, I had an expectation to run under 10, and now that I have achieved that, I hope to keep the performance consistent in the next race in Xiamen,” Ferdinand Omanyala said after the race in Shanghai.

“We changed the training program a little bit; we did more loading, and we went to South Africa for training instead of Kenya, which really worked well for us. This is a good start to the season, and I will keep going and get prepared for next year's World Championship in Beijing.”