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Ferdinand Omanyala. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu

Athletics

Omanyala confident multi-million Adidas deal will fuel World Record dream

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 25 – Having struggled to knit funds together as he sought an Olympic qualification time last year, fortunes have quickly turned for African 100m record holder Ferdinand Omanyala.

His achievements since earning qualification time to the Olympic Games in Tokyo have opened up further success off the pitch, biggest of which has been the signing of a sponsorship deal with apparel company Addidas.

And now, Omanyala hopes that the multi-million four-year sponsorship deal will fuel his ambition to become the world record holder over the 100m distance.

“Adidas came in and gave me a good deal and they are going to support me for the next four years with kitting, travelling money and everything possible for me to run with peace of mind,” Omanyala said in an interview with Capital Sports.

He added; “This is such a big deal for me because when I joined the sport I was always looking forward to sign a contract and I never knew I would sign with Adidas. This is the best thing to happen to me and it is a dream come true for me because they are the best.”

Omanyala achieved Olympic qualification time at the National trials, where he ran 10.04secs in a new national record to make the cut at high altitude. At the Olympic Games, he had gone on to break the record twice where he reached the semis.

He missed out on the final by a whisker, having finished third in his heat.

From Tokyo, he went on to achieve more as he broke the national record once again by becoming the first Kenyan to run the 100m in under 10 seconds by clocking 9.86secs in a race in Austria.

His biggest achievement in a frenzy 2021 was his new African record when he clocked 9.77secs in finishing second behind Trayvon Bromell at the Kip Keino Classic, a World Athletics Continental Gold Tour meet in Nairobi.

Swiftly, more sponsors came on board with betting firm Odibets gifting him with a car and soon, Adidas came on board.

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All this was the result of sacrifice and a never give up attitude that started from his Olympic dream almost being quashed when Athletics Kenya threatened not to give him a  place in the team owing to a past drugs ban.

Looking back, Omanyala says he sometimes cannot believe how quickly his fortunes changed.

“I am honestly really pleased with how things turned out,” says Omanyala.

“Now with better sponsorship, I am confident that there will be more success. You know training when you are still thinking of how to raise money for races or even applying for races is a lot of stress. When you are training but you are not even sure whether you will compete, it is always tough,” says Omanyala.

He adds; “But now I have everything sorted out and I now have a lot of peace of mind. I know I will run in many races because of my time including the Diamond League. The job is now on me to perform on the track.”

As he plans out the season with the African and World Championships on the table as well as the Commonwealth Games, Omanyala has only one mission in mind; to run faster.

“In 2022 I want to achieve big things. I want to train well and I want to run faster than 9.77secs. Might be 9.4, 9.3 or whatever, but what I am sure of is that I will run faster. Let my actions speak for themselves this season,” he notes.

As he prepares for either or all of the three big races, Omanyala will compete in the 60m indoor race for the first time ever.

He is set to travel to France next month where he will run one indoor race in Marseille before he runs three more in Paris.

He says he is excited ahead of his indoor debut, noting that it will hand him invaluable experience and improvement in terms of his start for the longer 100m.

“I am so excited about the indoor season because previously, I have always watched it just on TV but now I am going to compete. Over the last two months of training I have been doing a lot of block starts because I am trying to perfect my start,” says Omanyala.

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He adds; “My start hasn’t always been perfect in my start and racing indoors will help me perfect tat. If I run the 60m I ill try to step faster in the first part of the race and once I get used to this, the 100m will be faster. If I can perfect my skill in the first 50m then I can cut a few seconds of my time because I have a very good acceleration in the last 50m. Definitely I can run faster than 9.77secs.”

Currently, the World Record stands at 9.58secs, set by Usain Bolt in 2009 in Berlin.

Omanyala believes he has what it takes to try and lower the record. He says it’s a crazy thing, but achievable if he puts his head down to work.

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