Omanyala out of Ostrava race after abdominal strain

Africa's 100m record holder Ferdinand Omanyala will not compete at Tuesday's World Athletics Continental Tour Gold at the Golden Spike in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Omanyala Monday said he had withdrawn from the Golden Spike, opting to shift his focus on the Africa Senior Athletic Championships scheduled for June 8 to 12 at Cote d’Or National Sports Complex in Reduit, Mauritius.

Omanyala’s manager Marcel Viljoen said that his athlete suffered abdominal strain while in training after his last race on Wednesday in Germany, hence didn’t want to aggravate it with more races.

Golden Spike Ostrava race director Alfons Juck confirmed Omanyala’s withdrawal. “Yes, I was told he is injured. He skipped other meet before too,” said Juck.

“We were concerned about some niggle when he was doing his starts. We decided it is not worth the risk with only less than two weeks to the African Championships,” explained Viljoen. “He is back home to have it treated.”

Viljoen regretted Omanyala missing out on a great opportunity to race against a star-studded field at Ostrava.

“Right Omanyala is feeling good and looking forward to participating on the continent’s biggest stage for the first time, his first big outdoor Championships of the year,” said Viljoen.

“All is well and I now want to preserve my energies for the Africa event,” said Omanyala, who is back in the country from Europe where he competed in three 100m and one 200m races.

On his return to Europe after his indoor debut in 60m in February, Omanyala clocked 10.11sec to win the Castiglione International Meeting at Stadio Zecchini in Grosseto, Italy on May 22.

He went on to win the 200m second heat in a personal best of 20.50sec at the same meeting.

Omanyala then moved to Germany where he won the 100m second heat in 10.23 se,  but finished second in the final in 10.14sec at the Internationales Leichtathletik Meeting at Paul-Greifzu-Stadion on Wednesday.

Omanyala was to compete in his second meeting in Germany last weekend but failed to start.

Omanyal was to face off with his idol, Jamaican Yohan Blake. Omanyala has the fastest 100m time field this year of 9.85 sec he attained when he won the Kip Keino Classic on May 7 at the Moi International Sports Centre. Kasarani.

However, the decorated Yohan, a two-time Olympic champion and two-time world champion,  is the fastest in the field with a personal best of 9.69 sec clocked in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2012.

Wanyonyi, Amos face-off

Meanwhile, World Under 20 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi will go head-to-head with  Botswana’s 2012 Olympic silver medallist Nijel Amos and Bosnian two-time world medallist Amel Tuka.

Wanyonyi will be eying his second Gold Tour victory after winning at Kip Keino Classic in 1:45.01.

Also in the 800m field is Poland’s Olympic bronze medallist Patryk Dobe and Max Burgin, who returns to the scene of his European Under-20 800m record of 1:44.14 set a year ago.

Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji, who also won in Nairobi in 4:01.50, will be at the centre of the women’s 1,500m.

She expects an easy sail against Poland’s European silver medallist Sofia Ennaoui, multiple Czech record-holder Kristiina Maki and Britain’s European indoor and Commonwealth medallist Melissa Courtney-Bryant.

Ethiopia’s Olympic silver medallist Lamecha Girma headlines the men’s 3,000m steeplechase. He was second on his season opener at the Diamond League meeting in Doha and will look to go one better in Ostrava.

US sprint legend Allyson Felix takes to the track in the 200m, while world champions Tom Walsh and Joe Kovacs go to head-to-head in shot put and home javelin stars Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezslav Vesely take on the in-form Anderson Peters.

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn stars in another strong 100m hurdles field and her fellow Tokyo gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi leads the line-up for the men’s high jump