Omanyala sets new national record, personal best in Miramas meet

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala etched his name in the record books once again on Friday night as he breezed to a new national record time in the 60m dash at the Elite Indoor Track Miramas Meeting in France.

Omanyala, having timed 6.62 in Heat 1, produced a fine run in the finals, bursting out to shatter his personal best in a winning time of 6.52, one that outdid his previous and national record time by 0.2 seconds.

Emmanuel Esseme of Cameroon came in second clocking 6.61, with Ivorian Arthur Cisse finishing in third place in a time of 6.62.

Other Kenyans in the 60m event - Mark Otieno and Tyson Juma - failed to make it into the finals after finishing fifth in their respective heats timing 6.85 and 6.78 respectively.

Omanyala’s previous record set at Meeting Lievin Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais last year was 6.54, and to add on Friday’s performance, his run on Friday also ranked as the meeting record, surpassing the 6.57s initial record.

The 28-year-old next competes at the Meeting Indoor de Paris on 11 February, before closing out his indoor calendar with the World Indoor Games in Glasgow, Scotland on 1-3 March.

Omanyala to begin indoor season with Miramas meet this weekend

Meanwhile, in the Men's 400 Meters Short Track final, Kenyan representatives Wiseman Were (on his second appearance in Miramas) and Boniface Mweresa finished third and fourth timing 48.05 and 48.61 in a race won by Spanish international Inaki Canal (46.72).

Another Kenyan, Kyumbe Munguti, was seventh in the Men's 1500 Meters Short Track clocking 3:40.89.

The race was won by South Africa’s Ryan Mphahlele who timed 3:36.57.

Lydia Jeruto, competing in the women’s 15500, came home in seventh place in a time of 4:15.24.