Ferdinand Omanyala: Kenyans Bask in Glory as Sprinter Is Crowned New 100 M Champion in Africa

• Omanyala battled to beat Simbine for Kenya’s first gold medal in the 100-metre sprint since 1990
• The sprinter beat his South African rival by milliseconds, despite initially making a poor start
• Kenyans could not govern themselves on Twitter after the win as they expressed delight over the end of a 3 decade wait for a medal in the 100m dash

Twitter was on Thursday, June 9 flooded with messages from fans expressing pride following sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala’s triumph at the Athletics Championships in Mauritius.

Omanyala beat his arch-rival, South Africa Akani Simbine to finish the race in an impressive 9.92 seconds.

Despite making a fairly shaky start, the Kenyan picked himself up brilliantly to narrowly edge Simbine in a thriller of a race.

It is fair to say the race was a contest of fine margins as Omanyala beat Simbine literally by a fraction of a second.

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The margin will matter very little, however, as the victory puts Omanyala on course to breaking the Championship Record.

Given the wind at the stadium, however, Omanyala’s feat is subject to ratification, but there is no doubt that the sprinter handed Kenya her first Africa 100 meters title since 1990.

Kenyans reaction

Barely minutes after his achievement and Kenyans were flooding social media, expressing joy and pride in one of their own:

“Ferdinand Omanyala, from running on track barefooted to, trailblazing and besting his records each and every single time. May his star never dim.”

“I now believe Ferdinand Omanyala is legit”

“Congratulations Ferdinand Omanyala for winning men’s 100m race in the African Senior Athletics Championships, happening in Mauritius. Continue flying our flag high.”

“Ferdinand Omanyala breaking Usain Bolt's World Record in the 100 Meters Race is certainly a Matter of When not if”

Ferdinand Omanyala is a source and will be a source of so much joy among Kenyans in gloomy days the ceiling he'll hit in the 100M races would probably be second to Bolt only

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Omanyala’s wife’s reaction

Omanyala’s wife was also one of the first people to publicly cheer him on after the victory.

“You worked so hard to bring the medal back home. So proud of you!” she wrote on Instagram.

To be fair to Omanyala, he is certainly not short of confidence.

In fact, prior to the final in Mauritius, he had hinted that he would attempt to break Usain Bolt’s record to be crowned the fastest human being in the world.