Ferdinand Omanyala's Coach Reveals How Reunion With His Protégé is Paying Off Massively

Ferdinand Omanyala has recorded back-to-back sub-10 performances and his coach has lifted the lid on what is behind the sprinter’s career revival.

In his last four 100m races, Omanyala has dipped under 10 seconds thrice, starting with 9.98 seconds at Addis Ababa Grand Prix before 10.11 at the same venue only to light up the Kip Keino Classic with a time of 9.96 when he reclaimed the title that had eluded him in the previous two years.

He then recorded a season’s best 9.95 seconds when finishing third at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix last Sunday, showing improvements by very race. This, coming from a man that never run under 10 seconds last year, is one of the comeback stories of the season so far and to his coach, it has been going back to what worked previously.

“I just brought Ferdi to where he was before because there are some things he was not doing on the other side. I just brought them back to him to make him feel good,” Omanyala’s coach Duncan Ayiemba told Pulse Sports.

Ayiemba and Omanyala reunited late last year after what appeared like a bitter split in 2023, having worked together for long.

The experienced coach is the one who shaped the sprinter’s career, turning him into the world beater that he is today, but after the 2023 World Championships, they parted ways before Omanyala linked up with Geoffrey Kimani.

“I know his secret. His main secret is that he has to be mentally tough so I had to make him strong,” Ayiemba added on what he changed when he reunited with Omanyala.

“I had to treat him like a brother, my son. That was the major thing he was lacking the other side because I saw it like it was a business thing. I brought him back and made him feel comfortable.”

In the last two weeks, Omanyala has looked like a sprinter reborn, running with a swagger and a smile on his face unlike the forlorn figure that was witnessed o certain occasions last season.

Ayiemba says this is just the start and expects Africa’s fastest man to set even better times this year as he looks to retain his Commonwealth Games title.

“We are still putting in some efforts and he is definitely going to run faster. This is like part of training. He wanted to prove that whatever we did in the last months’ of training if it really works. He is going to get much better,” warned Ayiemba.