Ferdinand Omanyala Makes Bold Promise as He Chases Elusive Global Medal: 'It's a Matter of Time'

Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, remains steadfast in his pursuit of global glory, assuring his millions of supporters that his dream of standing on a World Championships or Olympic Games podium is only a matter of time.

Despite facing public criticism following his unexpected early exit at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, where he entered as defending champion, Ferdinand Omanyala continues to hold firm to his long-term vision.

"I'm looking forward to getting a global medal, either at the World Championships or the Olympic Games. And of course, as I said, at the start when I started this sprinting journey, I was with less than 10 people who believed in me,” Ferdinand Omanyala told KTN in an interview.

“Right now we're having millions of people working with me on this journey. Some get frustrated when I don't achieve. Some get angry. But I want to tell them that it's a matter of time. And when I started, I mean, nobody believed in me. And the same way, I'm saying I'll one day win a global medal. Of course, some don't believe me, but I believe that we're getting there."

Opening up about the physical hurdles that derailed his title defence at the Glasgow 2026 Games, Ferdinand Omanyala revealed that he suffered a stress fracture on his heel just two weeks before stepping on the track at Scotstoun Stadium.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games champion pointed out that the injury severely restricted his final race preparations and overall execution.

"We had a bit of an issue. I had a stress fracture on my heel, so we got that like two weeks before we went to Glasgow. So we were trying to manage it, but it was a bit of an early race after that. But it was a great place to be and just compete and to see how it's going to be. Sad that we didn't achieve what we wanted to achieve, but all the same, it was a good experience," he said.

Entering as the reigning 100m gold medallist from Birmingham, expectations were high for Ferdinand Omanyala in Scotland.

However, the physical strain alongside tough conditions resulted in a sixth-place finish in his semi-final heat, ending his tournament prematurely.

Addressing the disappointment, Ferdinand Omanyala accepted the outcome with sportsmanship, choosing to look ahead.

"Of course, sports is sports. We can't really go back and change anything. It's already passed, so we can't really come sit down and start nagging or complaining about it. So, of course, I felt bad about that, but there's nothing I could do about it. We just have to move forward," he said.

Addressing debate regarding time fluctuations across the season, Ferdinand Omanyala rejected claims of inconsistency.

Pointing to multiple sub-10-second performances and podiums on the Diamond League circuit, he highlighted that fraction-of-a-second margins are often influenced by minor variables.

Looking forward, Omanyala noted that his technical crew is actively analysing seasonal timing and racing schedules to ensure he peaks at the right moments for international championships.

"You know it's a game of, it's something that we're trying to fix, and I'm sure that question should be directed to my technical team, because what I do is just show up, train, when I'm given races, I just show up and run, so that technical team, I'm sure they're figuring it out, and getting back to this season and based on how a couple of seasons I've been at the back,” he said.

“I think on the right track; we just need now to figure out the timings as well of the season and when to pick and how to pick because it's a boring line and sometimes you just need to understand how it works."