Omanyala, Moraa fired up Kip Keino Classic; on fire Tebogo in town

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala and 800m gold medalist Mary Moraa are enthusiastically looking forward to compete at home, in Saturday's fifth edition of the Kip Keino Classic.

In an interview Thursday morning during a press briefing in Nairobi, Omanyala, slated to compete in his usual 100m, urged fans to show up in droves.

He is hoping to continue his impressive shows as achieved in the last editions, although he has been putting a more focus on the 200m in training.

"I'm thrilled about Saturday. Running at home with the crowd's support is a great feeling," Omanyala modestly said.

"It's been eight months since I last ran the 100m, so I'm uncertain about this race, but we'll soon find out how it goes," Omanyala added.

Mary Moraa, the reigning 800m world champion, revealed her excitement ahead of her second appearance at the Kip Keino Classic.

‘’It's incredibly uplifting for us athletes to witness the fervent cheers of our home fans in the stadium," Moraa exclaimed with an animated enthusiasm.

"The support fuels our energy to compete, reassuring us that we're competing on a familiar ground," she continued.

The Kip Keino classic 2024 showdown is slated for Saturday at the Nyayo National Stadium. 

Fond memories

Meanwhile, world 100m silver medalist Letsile Tebogo arrived in the country on Wednesday night in readiness for the Kip Keino Classic.

The Botswana national, who was accompanied by his coach Kebonyemodisa Dose Mosimanyane, said he is glad to be back to the country that holds fond memories for his career.

“I feel it is going to be a great show because I came here and won the junior championships. Now we are back here to see what the future holds for us. We don’t know what everyone (other competitors) has been doing behind the scenes. We hope it will be a great show,” the 2021 World Under-20 100m champion said.

Tebogo will be running in the men’s 200m where he will come up against the United States pair of Courtney Lindsey and Corian Camel, the 2022 World Relay 4x100m champion Brendon Rodney of Canada, the 2018 Commonwealth Games 100m silver medalist Henricho Bruintjies of South Africa as well as the African Games 200m silver medalist Claude Emmanuel Itoungue of Cameroon.

Reflecting on the star-studded start list, Tebogo was quick to point out that past records or achievements will count for nothing when he lines up at the starting block on Saturday.

“For now, we don’t focus on the past…we need to move on to the next races. If you hold on to the fact that you won a silver medal in the past, you will never progress. So, as much as the silver medal is an added advantage, I don’t want to focus on that but to try a new strategy,” he said.

The youngster clocked 10.19 to win the world 100m title at the 2021 World Under-20 level as well as silver in the men’s 200m.

His career has been on an upward trajectory since then, defending his World Under-20 title at the next edition of the games in Cali, Colombia in 2022 before clinching silver in the men’s 100m at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary as well as bronze in the 200m.

Also docking at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was world silver medallist for the women’s hammer throw Janee Kassanavoid.

The American expressed her elation at competing at the Kip Keino Classic for a fourth time.

“I'm super excited to be back to the country and competing at the Kip Keino Classic for the fourth time. I am looking forward to starting off my season,” Kassanavoid said.

The 29-year-old said she will be simply looking to enjoy herself as she ramps up her preps for the summer Olympics in Paris.

“I'm going to just have fun and try to knock the rust off. I haven’t competed since August so this is sort of my season-opener. I'm looking to open with something big and it would be fun,” she said.

Despite being out of competition, Kassanavoid says she is in great shape.

“I have been keeping myself in shape and staying healthy all fall. I have been getting strong again and obviously with Paris on the horizon, it is going to be a big season. It is a good meet this weekend,” she said.

Kassanavoid will come up against four-time world champion Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland – among other competitors – and will be looking to defend the crown she won at last year’s edition of this World Continental Tour Gold event.