Seychelles’ former African U20 bronze medalist relocates to Kenya to tap into Omanyala’s brilliance

Just months after luring South Africa’s 2018 Commonwealth Silver medalist Henricho Bruintjes to Kenya, Africa’s fastest man and the reigning Commonwealth champion Ferdinand Omanyala has once again triggered the relocation of another international athlete to the country.

Mozzart Sport can exclusively reveal that 2017 African U20 Championships Bronze medalist Sharry Dodin from Seychelles has followed suit in moving to the country in a bid to tap into Omanyala’s brilliance.

Speaking to Mozzart Sport, the 24-year-old athlete, who is bidding to qualify for the upcoming 2023 Budapest World Championships, revealed that the desire to improve his times was the motivating factor behind the switch as he pursues to make big progress in his career.

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

“I came here to get good intensity training because I know this guy here (Omanyala) is serious and they are running fast times which is a good place for me to be as I try to achieve my goal and dream. I want to run my personal bests in the 100m and 200m and try to get something out of it because I have been sacrificing a lot since I started running,” he said.

Since coming to the country at the start of March, Dodin, who also won bronze in the 4x100 Metres Relay at the 2017 Francophone Games, noted that he had already started seeing slight improvements in his running owing to the hard training regime in the Omanyala-led camp.

“Kenya has been nice so far. Training is really hard but it is a good thing and a good environment to focus. The guys in the team are also very serious because they are chasing after something which is a good thing for me. Just two weeks in and I am already seeing some big improvements because training is very serious and you have to come with you’re a-game,” he noted.

Having taken athletics seriously after his bronze medal at the 2017 U20 games, Dodin, who has a personal best of 10.47s in the 100m, revealed to Mozzart Sport that the opportunity to join the Kenyan camp came through Bruintjies who extended the invite to him after deciding to relocate himself to the country.

“I had my mate, Henricho, whom I had known for a while. I got in contact with him and that is how I ended up joining here. Omanyala then welcomed me to train here with the team,” he said.

Dodin also heaped praise on Omanyala and coach Duncan Ayiemba who takes charge of the entire team for their hard work that is paying off in terms of results.

“I had seen him around at the Commonwealth Games and African Championships but we really did not talk like we do now. It is really nice to be next to him because he works a lot for what he has. For him to be what he is, he has to train really hard.

The coach is really nice and looks after everyone. He makes sure that you do not make any mistakes is also very serious in what he does,” he said.

With the World Championships set to take place in August, the Seychelles athlete laid his main target being to qualify for the event as he revealed his stay in Kenya would be a permanent move.

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“I want to go to the World Championships and make it to the final of some African Championship final. In there we will get to see where we are at. I will stay until I reach where I want to be. It is a process to get there and I have relocated here to get that training that I need,” he concluded.

The athlete will be heading to South Africa at the end of the month alongside Ferdinand Omanyala and Bruintjes where he will begin his 2023 season.