Omanyala to covenant with God in Olympic gold bid, Ouma says party just starting

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala says has revealed that he will be wearing three different spikes during races in the ongoing Olympic Games.

Omanyala will be on the track in Saturday’s 100m men’s opening heats before the semifinals and the finals set to take place on Sunday, and will use three different spikes in the three levels.

Omanyala, whose 9.79 seconds time at the national trials in Nairobi is second fastest this season, will face stiff competition from among others world champion Noah Lyles of US, fastest man this season Kishane Thompson Jamaica, his compatriot Oblique Seville among others; and is drawing spiritual inspiration to prepare for the test.

“For the heats it will be a verse thanking God for the opportunity He has granted me to be at the Olympics because not everyone who wanted to qualify made it.

“For the semis it will be about thanking God for giving me the strength to be there because the semis are always the toughest stage and for the final, it will be about a covenant with God to give me victory and what I will do for him,” explained Omanyala, saying just as there will be different Bible verses for every race, the spikes will be different.

A gold medal for Omanyala will be historic not only for Kenya but also for Africa, after Namibia’s Freddie Fredericks came close in 1996 when he won a silver medal at the Atlanta Games.

At the same time, after quite uninspiring performances so far by Kenyan teams at the Paris Olympics, middle distance races coach Bernard Ouma believes that there will be smiles once the athletics program starts proper on Friday.

So far, Kenya has not won a medal from both individuals and team sports that have competed, with judoka Zeddy Cherotich being the latest to crash out after loss to Portuguese Patricia Sampaio on Thursday.

“We are looking forward to starting the heats and our main target is to reach the finals, and for the ones who are already into the finals like the 10,000m team, their main target is to deliver the medals for Kenya.

“The preparations went on very well and the athletes are highly motivated. The coaches are up to the task and we are here for the Games, let the party begin,” a buoyant Ouma said.

The coach also called upon the Kenyans in Paris to turn out in large numbers and support Kenyan athletes in their various events.

“We thank all the Kenyans who welcomed us in this city with such amazing warmth. We want them to com and cheer us on come Friday as we open the track and field events with the men’s 1,500m, before going to 800m women’s heats in the afternoon…” he urged.

Kenya could bag the first medal of the Paris Olympics on Friday when mean’s 10,000m final will take place.