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Africa’s fastest man saw his win upheld having earlier been disqualified for line infringement
Confusion marred Ferdinand Omanyala’s victory at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix after he was reportedly disqualified for line infringement before later seeing his win restored.
Omanyala had run a wind-assisted 9.87, his first sub-10 of the season, at the National Stadium in Gaborone on Saturday but his celebrations would later be cut short over the technical error.
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14:40 - 30.04.2023
ATHLETICS WATCH: Omanyala’s line infringement that saw his Botswana Grand Prix victory scrapped
Africa’s fastest man was his disqualified for the technical error after managing his first sub-10 of the season
Having started in lane four, Omanyala, who got off the blocks first, stepped on lane five on his right while trying to glance at home favourite Letsile Tebogo, who finished second in 9.91, thus landing himself in trouble.
However, it later emerged that his lane infringement was not picked up or reported to the timers, hence his victory was upheld.
Botswana Golden Grand Prix media officer Calistus Kolantsho later clarified that Omanyala’s time, which saw him miss his African record by 0.01 seconds, was wind assisted, coming at +2.3 m/s and therefore, won’t be ratified as a world lead.
Wind speed that exceeds +2.0 m/s are deemed illegal and cannot be ratified for record purposes based on World Athletics rules in sprint and jump performances
Omanyala was perhaps also saved by parts of World Athletics’ Technical Rule 17.3.1 (163.3(a)) on lane infringement which states; "This rule applies to athletes running on the bend in a laned race. If an athlete steps on the lane line on their left or runs into the lane on their inside they will be disqualified for shortening the distance of the race.
“If an athlete runs into the inside lane or touches the lane line in the straight, no report will be made unless they obstruct another athlete as they have not affected the distance to be covered in the race.
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16:50 - 29.04.2023
ATHLETICS Omanyala sets world leading time to claim victory at Botswana Golden Grand Prix
With the presence of Letsile Tebogo of Botswana in the race, Omanyala had to dig deep for the win.
"Running into the lane on an athlete’s right (outer lane) should not be penalised unless there is interference with the athlete running in that lane." He was, therefore, deemed not to have infringed Tebogo even though he stepped on the line.
Africa’s fastest man will next be in the United States of America for the Atlanta City Games on saturday, May 6 before returning home for the Kip Keino Classic at Kasarani Stadium on May 13 where he will hope to lower his time even further.
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