Ferdinand Omanyala’s Revenge Mission Fails as Trayvon Bromell Silences Noah Lyles in Paris

Ferdinand Omanyala’s struggles continued when he failed to beat a stacked field at the Paris Diamond League on Sunday.

Omanyala was among a stellar 100m cast in Paris with Olympics champion Noah Lyles, former World champion Trayvon Bromell, Akani Simbine of South Africa, Canadian Andre De Grasse and Jeremiah Azuh of Great Britain among them.

Lyles was hot favourite to win after ending another star-studded field in Rome early this month but the tables turned when Bromell stormed to the win.

When the gun went off, Lyles appeared to be ahead with Omanyala also staying with the leading pack, as he sought to avenge his loss to the American in Rome, but things changed just past the 50m mark.

Omanyala seemed to run out of gas as the rest stormed forward with Bromell edging it in a season’s best 9.91 seconds, ahead of Lyles, who clocked 9.92, for second place.

Former Olympics champion Marcell Jacobs completed the podium in a season’s best 9.96 ahead of Simbine, who timed 9.97 for fourth place.

American Anthony Jordan also managed a sub-10 performance, finishing fifth in 9.99, while Omanyala had to settle for sixth place in 10.02 seconds.

It is the seventh race in a row in which Omanyala has failed to secure a sub-10 performance, having started the season like a house on fire and dipped under 10 seconds in four straight races between April and May.

It was, however, a good outing for Bromell who seems to be getting back to his best after struggling with injuries in recent years.