Superb Omanyala shakes off jetlag to produce remarkable performance
Africa fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala produced a superb performance to qualify for the semifinals of the World Athletics Championships 100 m despite the fatigue due to late visa issues.
Omanyala managed to clock 10.10 seconds to come in third behind New Zealand’s Edward Osei-Nketia (10.08, NR) and Sani Brown in 9.98 secured the much awaited qualification to the next stage at the Hayward Field in Oregon on Saturday.
The sprint sensation qualified for the semifinals despite the late visa clearance to travel to the United States on Thursday evening arrived less than three hours to his race which took place at 5.32am EAT.
Despite the superb performance, Omanyala will have to up his game in the next stage to match up the performance of Tokyo Olympics silver medallist and America’s world leader Fred Kerley.
Kerley produced a mouth-watering performance to clock 9.79 which is the fastest heat time in history at a major championship.
The American sprinter has already recorded the world’s fastest time this season in the men’s 100 m.
America’s Marvin Bracy won Heat 1 in 10.05, Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake was second in 10.15 while Nigeria’s Raymond Okevwo was third in 10.17.
Trayvon Bromell, the second fasted man in the world this year, also secured safe passage to the semis at home with a 9.89sec performance in Heat 3.
Jamaica will be represented in Saturday’s semi-finals by Oblique Seville, who clocked a heat-winning 9.93sec, and 2011 world champion Yohan Blake.
Saturday sees the semi-finals scheduled for 0100 GMT (4am EAT), with the final to be run at 0250 GMT (5:50am EAT).
