Omanyala caps off Olympic preparations with commanding win in Hengelo

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala amped up his preparations for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games with a commanding victory at the FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands on Sunday.

The Kenyan, who was making a return to Europe for his final 100m race pre-olympics, stepped out of the blocks with ferocity, before taking the lead and ultimately easing to the finish line in a winning time of 10.01.

Following him in second place was USA’s Ronnie Baker who clocked 10.03, with Canadian Andre de Grasse coming home third in a time of 10.07.

Omanyala came into the rain-soaked race off a superb victory at the Paris Olympics Team Kenya Trials at the Nyayo National Stadium, where he timed a world lead time of 9.79.

Already termed as his last race leading up to the Olympic Games, a win in Hengelo will prove a big personal statement for the Commonwealth Games champion, as he now sets his eyes on a sprinters camp in Miramas - Southern France.

Speaking after his second sub-10 performance then, he said: “As I told people, let us handle each day as it comes and let us trust the process. We were hoping to peak in July/August, and that is what we are seeing now. We will go to the camp and do more competitive reps. We were doing just one or two reps but now it will be intense."

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In the other races with Kenyan representation Sunday, 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Nicholas Kipkorir was unable to keep up with eventual race winner Telahun Bekele as he came home second in a time of 13:02.25.

Bekele, who led for much of the race, was joined by his Ethiopian counterpart Worku Tadese, who finished third in a personal best time of 13:02.56.

Bekele timed 13:01.12.

Two other Kenyans in the race - Cornelius Kemboi and Daniel Kinyanjui - finished fourth and sixth respectively clocking 13:09.76 and 13:24.53 (PB).

Mary Ekiru, on the other hand in a separate race, finished sixth in the women's 1500m event, timing a personal best 4:05.00.

The closing race witnessed Olympian Sifan Hassan fade away from what looked like a routine win on home soil as she only finished fifth in a season best 4:04.83.

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Great Britain's Melissa Courtney Bryant took the win in a time of 4:03.58, with USA's Danielle Jones and Yolanda Ngarambe (Sweden) finishing second and third respectively.

In 800m watch, Team GB's Keely Hodgkinson showed her dominance winning in a time of 1:57.36. She will be the number one challenger for Kenya's Mary Moraa in the Paris Olympics.