Omanyala records victory in Paris meeting debut

Kenya’s 100m Commonwealth champion Ferdinand Omanyala on Saturday night marked his maiden appearance at the Meeting de Paris indoor event, cruising to victory in the 60m finals in a time of 6.56.

The win- the second in a row- was his first in the silver label event in the French capital – and his third indoor event this year.

Omanyala was quickest in Heat 1 on Saturday; clocking 6.61 as his closest challenger in the previous rounds Arthur Cisse won Heat 2 in 6.62 ahead of Jeff Erius (France) who finished in a time of 6.70.

In the finals, Omanyala sneaked in a tight victory, outdueling the aforementioned Cisse (Ivory Coast) by a hundredth of a second as he came second in 6.57.

Meba Mickael Zeze of France was third in a time of 6.66 with Karl Erik Nazarov (Estonia) finished fourth timing 6.68.

That was the second time on the spin that Ferdinand Omanyala had outpaced Cisse to victory after doing so in a record-breaking time on Wednesday night at the Mondeville meeting in France.

The 100m African champion hit his all-time best 6.55 seconds win after clocking 6.60 in his first appearance this year at the Elite Indoor Track Miramas meeting on 3 February 2023.

Omanyala’s next race is expected to be at Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas de-Calais at the Arena Stade Couvert, Lievin on February 15 2023.

At the same venue, 800m Commonwealth champion Mary Moraa will be expected to make her second indoor appearance after finishing fourth at the Orlen Copernicus Cup in Torun, Poland.

South Africa’s 100m Commonwealth Silver medalist relocates to Kenya to tap into Omanyala’s brilliance

Earlier this week, Commonwealth Games silver medalist in 2018 Henricho Bruintjies confirmed his plan to relocate to Kenya in a bid to train with Omanyala. Bruintjies has a personal best of 6.79 in the 60m indoor events.