Peerless Omanyala storms to victory in ASA Grand Prix 1

Commonwealth 100m Ferdinand Omanyala was in a class of his own as he stormed to victory in the Athletics South Africa (ASA) Grand Prix 1 at Tuks Athletics Stadium in Pretoria on Wednesday.

Omanyala, showed the rest in the line up a clean pair of heels as he crossed the line comfortably ahead of the rest who were desperately trying to catch up.

The African champion clocked 10.12 seconds ahead of Benjamin Richardson of South Africa who came in second after timing 10.33.

Were upsets South African opponents to claim victory in ASA Grand Prix 1

Rivaldo Roberts was third after stopping the clock in 10.34.

Kenya Defence Forces runner Samwel Imeta who is bidding to hit the qualification time for the 2023 World Athletics Championship finished fourth in 10.39.

With the backing of tens of fans who were flaunting the Kenyan flag, the African record holder did not have one of the best reaction time off the blocks but his acceleration propped him yards ahead of the rest.

He seamlessly pulled away from the rest and sprinted all the way to the line, with his closest challenger having to dip in order to grab silver.

Reacting to the win, Omanyala conceded that, he expected to run a faster time than the on he posted, but remained happy with how he fared on the track.

“I expected to ran faster time but a win is a win. I take this one and focus on the next one,” he told the organizers shortly after the race.

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The national champion pledged to run better times in the subsequent races even as he hopes to peak in time for the global showpiece.

While noting that the cold weather played an insignificant role to the time posted, he said, running sub 10 seconds is part of his plan for the next race.

“It was a little bit colder. Hopefully, the next race will be faster for I will be targeting sub ten seconds,” he said.