American legend Johnson slams organisers for Omanyala visa debacle

Former Olympic sprint champion Michael Johnson slammed the visa logjam that has plagued this year’s World Athletics Championships as organisers scrambled to have the issues resolved.

The retired American sprinter, one of athletics’ all-time top performers, has been among the most vocal critics of the manner in which issuance of visas had been handled.  

Around 100 athletes, coaches and officials from around the world have been flagging their problems, with African 100m champion Ferdinand Omanyala among the most high-profile.

“This is ridiculous! It’s been known US entry visa may be one of the most difficult and WA and the organizing committee didn’t get ahead of this? #WCHOregon22,” Johnson tweeted, quoting a post the Ivorian sprint queen Ta Lou Marie Josee who was lamenting about the visa issues.

The 54-year-old said a World Athletics statement saying the issues were being resolved had been “PITIFUL and SHAMEFUL”.

Omanyala finally got his visa approved on Thursday, departing the country later that evening and leaving him facing a race to arrive in Eugene in time for Friday's 100 metres heats.

“This would never happen in a truly professional sport!” Johnson wrote in a quote retweet of Citizen TV editor Mike Okinyi’s post that Omanyala was finally heading to the US.

This would never happen in a truly professional sport! https://t.co/yLvwFfXKUP

Omanyala’s fellow Kenyan Sheila Chepkirui, due to race the 10,000 metres on Saturday, said that her U.S. visa was approved in May but that she still did not have the stamp in her passport. "Tears and pain. Silence," she wrote on Instagram.

Several others have received late approval but will now arrive on the day of their races - hardly ideal preparation for the sport's biggest event outside the Olympics.