The 26-year-old expressed his delight at setting a new mark despite suffering his first loss of the season
Ferdinand Omanyala has expressed his delight at setting a new African record in the 150m at the Atlanta City Games on Saturday.
Africa’s fastest man came home third in 14.98 seconds with American and world 100m champion Noah Lyles winning the race in a Personal Best of 14.56 seconds while Erriyon Knighton placed second in 14.85.
Omanyala beat the 14.99 African record set by Namibian legend Frankie Fredricks in 1993, his time being also a national record and the 13 best of all time.
Despite not winning, the 26-year-old reveled in his achievements given he was featuring in the 150m for the first time.
“150 metres. 1️4.89. 13th best all time. African Record. National Record. Thank you, Atlanta, for the love,” Omanyala said via a Twitter post on Sunday.
In another post, the athlete described how he was ‘overwhelmed’ by the support shown to him in Atlanta.
"I am overwhelmed with the love that my fans shed for me yester night (Saturday) in Atlanta, I am grateful and glad to know that I mean so much to my fans. Thanks to the Kenyan fans here in ATL (Atlanta) too for showing up. Thanks to all my fans around the world too. I hope I get these cheers in every race I run,” he added.
Omanyala was using the 150m to test his speed ahead of more grueling assignments this year such as the Diamond League with the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary the main focus where he hopes to become the first African to win a medal in the 100m at the global event.
The Kenyan sprinter took the lead in the first 30m but saw Lyles overtake him in the final 20m to claim victory and the race should have given him encouragement given how he pushed the world’s best.
It was the first loss of the season for Omanyala who has claimed wins in the season-opening ASA Grand Prix in South Africa, clocking 10.05 in Germiston on April 19, seven seconds faster than his 10.12 in Pretoria, a week earlier.
Omanyala then managed a wind-assisted 9.87, his first sub-10 of the season, at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix last week.
His next assignment is the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi next weekend where he hopes to run another sub-10 and possibly break his African record of 9.77.
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