Omanyala wins Xiamen DL in style

Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala reacts after crossing the finish line to win men's 100m race during the Diamond League Xiamen in Xiamen, China, on Saturday. [AFP] 

Africa’s fastest 100m sprinter, Ferdinand Omanyala, has officially confirmed that he is not backing down on his sub-10 seconds campaign this season.

On Saturday, the Commonwealth champion blasted to a historic Diamond League victory in Xiamen, China.

In a show of relentless push to remain on the podium this season, Omanyala delivered a brilliant 9.94 win and a season best in a race that assembled the strongest field.

Kenyan athletics enthusiasts took to social media to congratulate the Kenyan sprint icon following the spectacular race in Xiamen, the second leg of the Diamond League circuit.

At the first meet of the season in Shanghai, Omanyala finished second behind Gift Leotlela (10.00), but yesterday in Xiamen, he turned the tables on the South African, pushing him to the runner-up position.

Omanyala was the only man to run a sub-10 sprint in the contest.

USA’s Trayvon Bromell, a world 100m bronze medallist, and Olympic 200m silver medallist Kenny Bednarek came in third and fourth, respectively, in 10.03.

Reigning Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana placed eighth in a 100m race that saw South African sensation Akani Simbine come in fifth.

“I hope to keep the performance consistent in the next race in Xiamen. We changed the training programme 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. I will keep going as I get prepared for next year’s World Championships in Beijing,” Omanyala had promised before yesterday’s show.

World Champion Faith Cherotich’s battle for honours resulted in a third place behind Olympic champions Peruth Chemutai of Uganda and Bahraini Winfred Yavi.