Ferdinand Omanyala Walks Away With Biggest Prize Money in Xiamen After Statement Win

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala will be rewarded richly after his blistering run at the Xiamen Diamond League on Saturday.

Omanyala continued his great start to the 2026 season when he clocked his fifth sub-10 of the campaign by clocking 9.94 seconds while beating a stacked field that had Letsile Tebogo, Akani Simbine and Christian Coleman.

The Kenyan also got his revenge over South African Gift Leotlela, who edged him at the season-opening leg in Shanghai last week.

Following his win, Omanyala will take home the biggest prize money that was on offer in Xiamen given the 100m was one of the Diamond+ Discipline events in the Chinese city.

At the Diamond League, there are two prize money structures; the Standard prize and Diamond+ Discipline. The standard prize pays out $10,000 (1.29 million) for winners in every event, $6,000 (Ksh777,540) for second place, $4,000 (Ksh518,360) for third place and the amount goes down to ninth place and beyond.

Meanwhile, "Diamond+ Disciplines" are select events that offer a significantly higher prize money, doubling the winner's payout to $20,000 (Ksh2,591,800) while the rest of the positions are equal to what is paid out in the Standard prize.

Omanyala therefore walked home with just over Ksh2.5 million for his efforts, a well-deserved reward, for a man who has won five of his seven 100m races this season with his time of 9.94 also being a season’s best.

This will act as further motivation for Omanyala, who is enjoying a new lease of life, since reuniting with his longtime coach Duncan Ayiemba late last year.