By James Wokabi.
Africa 100m champion Ferdinand Omanyala will make a last ditch attempt to compete at the World Athletics Championships after finally getting his visa on Thursday.
Handlers of the 26 year old had earlier in the day announced his withdrawal from the Championships due to lack of a visa.
Omanyala finally recieved his US visa on Thursday morning and stated that he would be going to Oregon after all.
He will leave at 6pm on Thursday and hopes to arrive on Friday; two hours and 40 minutes before the start of the heats of his race.
“Onto the next flight to Oregon.
Am positive that I will compete.
Thanks so much for your support and prayers,” Omanyala tweeted.
“Visa challenges are faced by all Kenyans daily and in this case I was no different.”
“I would like to thank God, the President Uhuru Kenyatta and the government through ministry of sports and Cabinet Secretary for sports Amb. Amina Mohammed who have been at the forefront in ensuring I get my visa.”
The African sprint, has set his sights on clinching a medal when he makes his World Athletics Championships debut this week.
The Kenyan heads to the home of track and field in United States fresh from clinching the African Championship men’s 100m and men’s 4X400m sprint double in Mauritius last month.
“My main goal is to get a medal but more so to get gold and become the first African to win the 100m title world title. Am going in with my head up because I am someone who makes history, and we are going to make history in Oregon.”
“It’s my first time to go for the World Champs; I am so excited because it’s something that I have been preparing for all this while. It was the ultimate goal this season; the climax and I am very excited about it and really looking forward to running at the world championships,” the African record holder said.
To run in Oregon represents another career milestone for Omanyala, who became the first Kenyan to run at the Olympics men’s 100m semifinal at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Summer Games last year.
“When Doha was happening in 2019, I watched every bit of it and I told myself that I want to be there so it’s like I am now living my dream. And am just not going to participate, am going in as a competitor and going in to compete for a medal and am really excited and looking forward to that.”
The 26-year-old is the currently the third fastest man in the world this year after timing 9.85 seconds at the 2022 Kip Keino Classic held in June this year in Nairobi.
“It’s something am really excited about because it means that other competitors know who Omanyala is. I’m an athlete who loves the hype, loves the attention so I am sure am getting to Oregon with so much attention and that will give confidence and make me perform even better so no pressure, just lots of confidence.”
Omanyala won the 100m African title last month after edging out South Africa’s Akani Simbine in a photo finish with both timed at 9.93 seconds.
“Going to Oregon as the area record holder and Africa champion is a plus because that shows that I am good in championships. I am looking to run even faster now that I know how to handle major championships. The Africa Championships was like preparations, to show me the way as we head to the worlds.”
Always confident, Omanyala says he is not afraid of the high-quality competition in Oregon.
“I am not looking at the competition because I’m also among the best. I’m not putting my mind on any competitor, or any time people have run. We are not going there with our past achievements, we are going there to live the moment, we are going there to compete, we aren’t going to show off our times, we are going to create new times.
He also has an idea of how fast one will have to run to win the world title, “I think 9.77 will win the championship and hopefully that will be me.”
That is the same time he ran last September at the 2021 Kip Keino Classic to become the fastest African and eight fastest of all time.