Ferdinand Omurwa Omanyala is a household name in Kenya’s sports and athletics. He is currently the fastest man in Africa.
In the past years, Kenya was well known for the long races but when Omanyala came into the scene, he changed that, giving Kenya glory also in the short races.
Over the weekend, the father of one emerged victorious in the men’s 100m race during the Kipkeino classic marathon that was held at the Moi International sports center Kasarani after sprinting for 9.8 seconds.
The athlete spoke to citizen TV where he shared some of the secrets to his remarkable success. He said that it has taken years of planning, dedication and commitment to training for him to be a record holder in the discipline.
“Training is hard, it is very hard training because you have to do everything to just run that 9 or 10 seconds. You have to have a lot of mental strength. The discipline part, you have to wake up in the morning even if you got sore the previous day,” Omanyala said.
He also attributes his success to the support of his wife Laventa Omanyala and his coach and trainer. Another key factor is the kind and amount of food he eats.
“I can take 2kg per meal,” he said in a midst of laughter adding that,” I prefer being sent staff from home because it is fresh and quality food. On a typical day, breakfast, I don’t take too much. I don’t know why but lunch and supper ,I take a good amount of food, let’s say like three plates of rice.”
Omanyala, a student at the University of Nairobi, began his sprinting journey in 2016, shifting from his then passion, rugby.
He however suffered a setback when he was banned from the sport for 17 months after he failed a drug test due to the drugs he was using to cure his back pain.
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