Omanyala, Moraa to light up AK meet at Nyayo

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala and World 800 metres champion Mary Moraa will grace the third leg of the Athletics Kenya Track and Field Meeting starting Friday at the Nyayo National Stadium.

Omanyala (100m) and Moraa (800m), who are the reigning Commonwealth Games champions, are among 1,400 athletes who had registered for the two-day championships by Thursday noon. 

Also set for the championships are the 3,000m steeplechase world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech, the national 100m and 200m champion Esther Mbagari, and national 400m champion Zablon Ekwam.

Also in the mix is the 2021 world 1,500m champion Vincent Keter, the national 100m hurdles champion and record holder, Rukia Nusra, and high jump national champion and record holder Zeddy Jesire.

The championship gets underway at 8am. It will be Omanyala’s last race locally before leaving for France on Wednesday next week to start his indoor season ahead of the World Athletics Indoor Championships due March 1 to 3 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Omanyala opened his season during the second Athletics Kenya Weekend Meeting on January 5 at Ulinzi Sports Complex, where he competed in the 400m for the first time in many years.

Omanyala, the Africa 100m and 4x100m champion, clocked a personal best of 49.06 seconds to finish fifth in one of the 400m heats. It was his first race since finishing third on his debut at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League in Eugene, United States of America on September 16, last year.

“I just want to see where I am in terms of speed and endurance hence I don’t want to set any targets or come with any predictions,” said Omanyala, who is after perfect execution of the race.

Omanyala said the 200m is a perfect race that he wants to push for the Paris Olympic Games, having used the 400m for training purposes.

“We are now looking forward to many things that are coming hence want to go out there to do my thing and get everything right hence good times will just fall in place,” said Omanyala, adding that his reaction during the race will be a pointer on his shape.

Omanyala will start his indoor season with his title defense of the Indoor Meeting Elite de Miramas on February 2 in Miramas, France before also putting his Meeting de Paris title on the line on February 11 in the French capital.

Moraa, the 400m national record holder, starts her track season, having competed in a mixed relay during the Kenya Police Service Cross Country Championships at Ngong Racecourse a week ago.

Moraa will be aiming to break her own 400m national record of 50.38  set during the national trials for the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary last year at the same venue.

 “I want to run 50.20 or 50.10 God willing tomorrow,” said Moraa, who hinted that she has been doing a lot of speed work to improve her last 300m in her 800m specialty.  

“My target is to run 400m in less than 50 seconds and I can tell you I have something nice cooking in 800m that I won’t disclose as yet,” explained Moraa, the 2022 world 800m bronze medallist. 

Head coach Julius Kirwa said that they have been encouraged by the huge turnout of athletes and adherence to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) rules.

Athletes hoping to compete at Athletics Kenya meetings must register online first before coming to pick up their running bibs on the eve of the championships as they get tested by Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) officers.

"We have a busy season ahead and we want to get everything right in terms of preparations not only in training and competitions, but also testing," said Kirwa.

Kenya is in Category A of countries where doping is prevalent and it's a requirement by World Athletics to have athletes representing the country undergo three tests within 10 months before major championships.