In Paris
Kenya’s sprints sensation Ferdinand Omanyala Wednesday opened up to his failure to reach the 100 metres final at the Paris Olympics, assuring his fans that he is over the Stade de France disappointment and will bounce back in a huge way.
He spoke as the Kenyan pair of Commonwealth champion Wycliffe Kinyamal and frontrunner Emmanuel Wanyonyi qualified for the semi-finals of the 800 metres and the trio of Jacob Krop, Ronald Kwemoi and Edwin Kurgat also came out of the 5,000m qualifying round unscathed.
The third Kenyan runner in the 800m, Koitatoi Kidali, failed to progress but will have a second life at Thursday’s ‘repechage’ after finishing fifth in Heat Two in one minute, 45.84 seconds.
The ‘repechage’ is a specially organized round for athletes who failed to progress to have a second bite of the cherry.
And with only the first three in each heat progressing, Kidali will now fight for a place in the semis at Thursdays midday (1pm Kenyan time) repechage.
Also Thursday, Kenya’s former world javelin champion and Olympic silver medallist Julius Yego will be in action in the javelin throw final from 8.25pm (9.25pm Kenyan time).
A revamped Yego earned automatic qualification on Tuesday with a third round throw of 85.97 metres, the sixth best throw of the qualification rounds.
Omanyala, Africa’s fastest man with a record on 9.77 seconds, failed to make the 100m final on Sunday with USA’s Noah Lyles taking gold in 9.77 seconds.
He said he was excited at his participation at the Paris Games although the weekend didn’t go as expected.
“But it’s sport, it’s a championship… it takes time to get a world medal…. I’ve done it at the Commonwealth Games, the African Championships, but sometimes it all comes down to how relaxed you are,” Omanyala reacted at Kenya House in Paris where he was received by. Among others, Sports Principal Secretary Peter Tum and Kenya’s Ambassador to France, Betty Cherwon.
“I’m sure when we get to the next championship it will be great because I know the times are in me and it’s just about how to execute it.
“I just need to learn how to control my race, relax and tell myself ‘OK, it’s still OK, you still have 80 metres to go and you will catch up.’ That’s something I need to be reminding myself all the time.”
As Omanyala exited the Paris stage, Yego will be looking for that one big throw – like he did at the 2016 Rio Olympics for silver, or the 2015 World Championships in Bejiing for gold – to get onto the medals.
The policemen has been struggling for form and was and was relieved by his throw, with the automatic qualification standard set at 84 metres.
Yego said Team Kenya’s pre-Olympic training camp in Miramas, Southern France, was of great benefit and had helped knock him into shape.
“It was the best decision for me to make to travel to Miramas for training. In Miramas, we were focusing on technique and speed…
“My strength in javelin is the speed because I’m not a power thrower. So if I get my speed right and the technique too, I will be happy.”
He noted that his ‘block’ (body pivot point that allows throwing side to accelerate and release the javelin) has also improved.
“I’m lucky that I have a very good ‘block’ among the javelin throwers and I really needed to get it back, and I’m happy it’s back!
“I really needed to prove that I can still do it and this throw today has made me think I still have more years to throw – I didn’t struggle with the throw and the feeling is back, and I’m really excited to have a season best and to throw over 85 for the first time after a long time.”
“I love the sport and I wish we had many Kenyans coming to pick up the javelin because I’m almost exiting the event and we don’t have good throwers coming up.
“We have some but not good enough to compete at the Olympic Games or World Championships… I’ve opened the way, like Ferdinand Omanyala has done in the sprints, but we don’t have support… we really need that real support, not just talk.”
