NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 8 – Ferdinand Omanyala continued to be peerless at the Africa Athletics Championships in Mauritius, keeping the hunt for gold number one in sight as he sailed into the final of the 100m on Wednesday afternoon.
The African record holder clocked 10.07secs, the fastest winning time in the three semi-final heats to earn a spit into the final.
Gilbert Maseko of Namibia was second but nowhere close Omanyala as he clocked 10.15secs.
Only South African Akani Simbine, who Omanyala has already beaten this year, clocked a close time as he timed 10.09secs in winning the third semi-final heat.
The other Kenyan in the semi, Samwel Imeta finished third in his semi-final heat with a time of 10.27secs and couldn’t manage to squeeze into the final.
In the women’s race, Maxmilla Imali did not finish in the top two but her third place time of 11.26secs was enough to earn her a non-automatic qualification time.
Meanwhile, Elias Ngeny (1:47.16) and Nicholas Kiplagat (1:50.20) sailed into the final of the 800m after finishing first and second respectively in the men’s 800m.
In the men’s 400m, Kenya’s overall team captain Collins Omae and Seewua William both finished third in their heats, Omae timing 47.60 while Seewua clocked 45.67secs with both qualifying for the semi-final.