Ferdinand Omanyala eager to meet his 'namesake', Omanyala the horse
Ferdinard Omanyala celebrates after winning the 100m final during the Olympics Trials on June 15, 2024 at Nyayo National Stadium.
What you need to know:
- Omanyala is the ninth fastest man in the world with a personal best time of 9.77 seconds.
- Omanyala ran the world’s fastest time this year over 100m (9.79sec) at the national team trials.
Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala is itching to meet a horse named after him in Australia.
Omanyala, the horse, is a two-year-old chestnut gelding from Australia trained by T & N Busuttin & Young based at Cranbourne.
According to Australian horse racing website racenet, Omanyala was sired by the stallion Written Tycoon out of the dam Bandol.
“Omanyala has managed to win one race in its career so far. On May 25, 2024 at Wodonga, Omanyala was ridden by Brad Rawiller and scored its most significant win to date, getting the money in the Australian Dollar 27,000 (Sh2.3 million) two-year-old Open Handicap, defeating Ignazio,” an article on racenet reads.
Omanyala is known for speed
Omanyala, notes the website, has proven a profitable horse for the punters over the journey.
The 28-year-old Kenyan sprinter told the Nation Sport that he got the news about the horse a few weeks ago.
"When I was told about the horse, I was happy because maybe that’s the only one that we know. I’m sure there are pets out there called Omanyala, but I’d love to meet that horse. Maybe my spirit is in him, so I’m happy about it,” Omanyala said.
“That means that Omanyala is known for speed. I’m hoping that one day I will go and meet the family that owns that horse and maybe even get some percentage from the winning,” the sprinter jokingly said.
However, Omanyala admitted that he has never been a fan of horse racing.
Ninth fastest man in the world
"If the family that owns Omanyala the horse invites me, then I would go and watch the horse racing,” said Omanyala who is expected to fly to the Netherlands on July 5 to compete at the FBK Games in Hengelo on July 7.
Omanyala ran the world’s fastest time this year over 100m (9.79sec) at the national team trials for the Paris 2024 Olympics at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on June 15, 2024.
Jamaican Kishane Thompson then bettered that time by 0.02 seconds on July 28 in Kingston.
Omanyala is also the ninth fastest man in the world after with a personal best time of 9.77 seconds which he posted when he finished second behind American Trayvon Bromell (9.76 second) during the 2021 Kip Keino Classic Continental Tour in Nairobi.
