He said Kenya is still miles away from becoming a powerhouse in sprints, calling for patiance.
Africa’s fastest man in 100m Ferdinand Omanyala has said it is unfair to expect Kenyan sprinters to win every race, telling Kenyans to remain patient in a bid to become a sprints powerhouse.
In an NTV Churchill show video posted on his X account, formerly Twitter, Omanyala who ranks second in 2024 among this year’s fastest sprinters, told Kenyans not to subject the sprinters to a lot of pressure. He said despite raising the bar so high, Kenya is still a long way to becoming a force in sprints.
The reigning Commonwealth Games champion maintained that sprints is a new sport in the country, and everybody is learning, including him. “I know we raised the bar so high to a level where when we have a person in the 100m, Kenyans expect him to win. If he doesn’t win, people become hungry. But all I can tell you; Kenyans should not have a lot of pressure. This game is a new sport we are doing,” Omanyala who holds the national record in the 60m said.
Ferdinand Omanyala urged bloggers and sports journalists to focus on positive coverage of athletes, emphasizing the need to respect their efforts and avoid demoralizing them with negative stories, having been a victim of the same earlier this year.
Omanyala, who broke Kenya’s 60-year gold medal drought in 100m in Birmingham 2022, added: “We’re still doing catchups. we are still learning; everybody is leaning on their job. You’re still learning on your job. I’m a trailblazer, I’m still learning, but we will learn everyday… but ipo siku”.
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Chege wants to change the 200m Kenyan narrative by running sub-20 seconds next season.
His run up to the 2024 Paris Olympics was promising, clocking 10.01 at the FBK Games in the Netherlands. Omanyala served as Kenya’s flag bearer alongside volleyball queen Triza Atuka for the opening ceremony of the Paris games.
The 28-year-old was disappointed to only record 10.8 seconds in the semi-finals, missing out on the finals.
