Ferdinand Omanyala Omurwa (born 2 January 1996) is a Kenyan sprinter competing in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. In 2022, he won his first international championships, with victories in the 100 m at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, and

African Championships in Athletics The African Championships in Athletics is a continental athletics event organized by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), the continental association for the sport in Africa. Since its inaugural edition in 1979 it was at first organised ...

. Omanyala is the African record holder and the ninth-fastest man of all time in the event after clocking a time of 9.77 seconds on 18 September 2021 in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

. He also holds Kenyan national record in the 60 m.

Early life

Ferdinand Omanyala Omurwa was born in Hamisi as the third son of Dishon and Adelaide Omurwa, though the family settled in Tongaren soon afterwards.

Career

In 2015, Omanyala began his athletics career in Kenya as a chemistry student the

University of Nairobi , mottoeng = In unity and work , image = Uon emblem.gif , image_size = 210px , caption = Coat of Arms of the University , type = Public , endowment ...

. He made this move after a friend noticed his speed while he was playing rugby. He made the switch from rugby to track and only a few weeks later he ran a time of 10.4 s in his first AK meet in Kakamega. The same year, he won the national Olympics trials over the 100 m distance in a time of 10.37 s but never met the qualifying standard for the Olympics which was 10.16 s at the time. Following a doping offence in 2017 Omanyala received a 14-month suspension. He tested positive for the prohibited substance betamethasone, after undergoing treatment for his back injury which he got during training. Omanyala won the national title in the 100 metres in 2019. On 30 March 2021, he set a national record of 10.01 seconds in the 100 m in winning a meeting at Yabatech Sport Complex in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, Nigeria. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics 100 metres semi-final in August that year, he set a new national record of 10.00 seconds. Omanyala was 0.04 s behind eventual silver medalist

Fred Kerley Fredrick Lee Kerley (born May 7, 1995) is an American track and field sprinter known primarily for competing in the 400 meters distance but more recently the 100 meters and 200 meters. He has earned several medals at the World Championships in ...

and 0.02 s behind eventual bronze medalist

Andre De Grasse Andre De Grasse (born November 10, 1994) is a Canadian sprinter. A six-time Olympic medallist, De Grasse is the reigning Olympic champion in the 200 m, and also won the silver in the 200 m in 2016. He won a second silver in the 4×100 re ...

. The same month, he ran a new personal best of 9.86 seconds in Austria, becoming the first Kenyan to ever break the

10-second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less i ...

. In September, he ran a 9.77 seconds (+1.2 m/s) for a new African record at the Absa Kip Keino Classic held in

, Kenya coming in a close second place behind

Trayvon Bromell Trayvon Jaquez Bromell (born July 10, 1995) is an American professional track and field athlete specializing in sprinting events. He was the first junior to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters with a time of 9.97 seconds, the former jun ...

, who ran a world leading 9.76 s. In June 2022, Omanyala became African 100 m champion before he was eliminated in the semi-finals of the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

held in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

in July, after arriving at the event only a couple of hours before his first round heat due to visa problems. In August, he claimed Kenya's first gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, becoming the first Kenyan to win gold in the 100-metre race in 60 years.

Personal life

Omanyala is married to Laventa Amutavi and they have a son. His official sponsors are Odibets, a Kenyan sports betting company.

Achievements

International competitions

¹Time from the heats; Omanyala was replaced in the final.

National titles

Kenyan Athletics Championships The Kenyan Athletics Championships is an annual track and field meeting which serves as Kenya's national championships for the sport. Athletics Kenya, the country's governing body for athletics organises the event. The championships is usually hel ...

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

: 2019, 2022 **

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

: 2022

References

External links

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Ferdinand Omurwa
at the-sports.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Omurwa, Ferdinand 1996 births Living people Kenyan male sprinters Kenyan sportspeople in doping cases Sportspeople from Nairobi Doping cases in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Kenya People from Vihiga County People from Bungoma County African Championships in Athletics winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games