Commonwealth Games and Africa 100 meters champion Ferdinand Omanyala will adopt a change in training program so as to hit the peak at the right time this season.
Omanyala said his main focus next year is the World Athletics Championships slated from August 19 to 27 in Budapest, Hungary.Omanyala said he attained the peak quite early this year, which saw him running a world lead of 9.85 seconds when winning at the Kip Keino Classic on May 7 at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
Omanyala went on to win the African title in 9.93 sec on June 9 at Cote d’Or National Sports Complex, St Pierre, Mauritius before being crowned the Commonwealth Games champion in 10.02 sec on August 2 at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham.
After the Kip Keino Classic, it took the 100m Africa record holder six races before he could get another sub 10 seconds when winning in Mauritius. Omanyala would compete in 10 more races where sub 10 seconds performance proved elusive.
“I want to do something different this time around so as to hit the peak at the right time, which should be at the world event in Budapest,” said Omanyala, who was one of the guests at Standard Chartered Bank Nairobi Marathon on Sunday at Uhuru Gardens.
Omanyala resumed his training for the first time since mid-September with a gym session and will hit the track Tuesday morning.
“I will give the World Indoors tour a miss this time around,” said Omanyala, who hopes to compete in Athletics Kenya Track and Field Meetings before featuring in the Diamond League.
“It’s my wish to open my Diamond League in Doha on May 5,” said Omanyala.
Before gracing the Standard Chartered Bank Nairobi Marathon, Omanyala had good moments during the week where he paid Olympic champions Eliud Kipchoge (Marathon) and Faith Chepng’etich (1,500m) a visit in Eldoret.
Omanyala met Chepng’etich, who is also the two-time World and Olympic 1,500m champion on Thursday and Kipchoge the following day where they discussed athletics among other related issues.
“Faith and I talked about investments and the state of athletics in general in the country,” said Omanyala, who is also the Africa 4x100m champion.
“I have always admired Chepng’etich’s exploits on track and her jovial nature. She is so warm and welcoming. She told me what it took her to win both the world and Olympic titles,” said Omanyala, who was humbled to find out that Chepng’etich’s daughter, Alyn, is his big fan. “I am so glad to have met her.”
With Kipchoge, who is fresh from breaking his own marathon world record with victory at Berlin Marathon on September 25 in the German capital, Omanyala discussed the possibilities of partnering in different fields.
“We talked on how we can partner in developing talent not just in athletics but across all other sports. He is such a focused athlete full of wisdom and advice,” said Omanyala.
Kipchoge, 37, recaptured the Berlin Marathon title, smashing his own world record by 30 seconds. The 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, clocked 2:01:09 to win, beating his previous world record time of 2:01:39 set when winning in Berlin in 2018.
Chepng’etich, 28, recaptured the world 1,500m tile clocking three minutes and 52.96 seconds on July 18 before going on to win the Monaco leg of the Diamond League in a national record time of 3:50.37 on August 10, missing the world record by just three tenths of a second.
It was the second fastest time in history of the women’s 1,500m race where Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba holds the world record of 3:50.07 set in Monaco in 2015. Omanyala holds the national and Africa record in 100m of 9.77 from his second placing at last year’s Kip Keino Classic at Kasarani.
Omanyala, 26, also holds the national record in 200m set when winning his second semi-final heat in 20.33 at the national championships in April this year at the MISC.
