NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 12 – African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala made easy work of the field in his first outdoor competitive race of the season outside the country, as he won the 100m final at the Athletics South Africa Grand Prix 1 in Pretoria on Wednesday night.
Omanyala clocked 10.12secs to win, beating a host of South African athletes on home soil again to put a positive start to his outdoor season.
“A win is always a win. In anything you celebrate. We really wanted to do a sub-10. Every race counts but on to the next. We hope it will be faster. Still targeting a sub 10 in the next race,” Omanyala said after the race.
Compatriot Samwel Imeta finished fourth in a time of 10.39secs while South Africans Benjamin Richardson (10.22) and Rivaldo Roberts (10.34) were second and third respectively.
The ‘beast from the East’, as the commentators referred to him as had a little blip off the blocks, but he made that up with his usual powerful surge in the final 50m to win the race.
He now focuses on the second Grand Prix in South Africa next week, where he hopes to clock a faster time.
