Omanyala speaks after 100m final in Budapest

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala believes he will come back stronger after finishing seventh in Sunday's 100m final in Budapest

Speaking for the first time after he failed in his mission to be on the podium at the global event, Omanyala wrote five words to his over 96,000 followers on X.com (formerly Twitter)  saying: “Live to fight another day!” to which fans have come out in his support.

He landed in Budapest boasting of being the second fastest man this year after Briton Zharnel Hughes after clocking 9.84 when clinching the Kip Keino Classic title on May 13 at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani in Nairobi.

Things looked bleak for him during the semi-finals on August 20 at 5.35pm Kenyan time when he did not secure an automatic final ticket after he timed 10.01.

However, he squeezed through one of the two fastest losers at the expense of 2022 champion American Fred Kerley before being content with second-last position in the final.

Omanyala took off to a slow start in the tension-packed final, leaving him to chase the pack in in vain as he clocked 10.07 seconds at World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Sunday.

Nevertheless, Omanyala, the Africa 100m champion and record holder, made history as the first Kenyan to reach the men’s 100m final at the world championships.   

American world 200m champion Noah Lyle won the race in a world lead of 9.83, beating World under-20 100m champion and record holder Letsile Tebogo from Botswana to second place in a national record time of 9.88.

The feat was enough to see Tebogo make history as the first African to win a medal in the history of the World Athletics Championships.

Briton Zharnel Hughes claimed a surprise bronze in 9.88 as the 2019 world 100m champion Christian Coleman from USA sunk to fifth in 9.92.