Ferdinand Omanyala ’s dream of a first ever medal at the World Athletics Championships ended up in smoke, as he finished seventh in the 100m final in Budapest on Sunday evening.
Omanyala posted an unusually slow time of 10.07, in a race won by American showman Noah Lyles, who clinched the crown in a season’s best time of 9.83.
Letsile Tebogo, the Botswana sprint sensation who won the Under-20 world title in Nairobi in 2021 clinched silver in a National Record and Personal Best time of 9.88 as Briton Zharnel Hughes, erstwhile world leader, settled for bronze in 9.88.
Ordinarily, Omanyala’s season’s fastest time of 9.84 would have earned him a medal in Budapest, but it was never just his day.
The African record holder seemed to have startled off the blocks, and that little blip of feet seemed to have knocked the wind off his sails as he struggled to catch up with the lightning speed take off of the rest.
It was a really tight finish at the line, with the top five all running a sub-10.
After his miss at the Worlds, Omanyala will now switch his focus to the Diamond League, where he is currently the series leader.
