On Wednesday, February 16, Africa’s 100m record holder Ferdinand Omanyala dominated a strong field to win the 60m race at the Lievin World Indoor Tour meet in France.
Omanyala won the race in 6.56 seconds, a new national and African record. While doing so, he surprised Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs by edging him out for first place. Jacobs made a u-turn.
Omanyala got off to a slow start but gained momentum midway to shave 0.1 seconds off his previous record. It was sweet retribution for the Commonwealth Games 100m champion, who had been defeated by Jacobs in the same event last year.
Omanyala now has three victories on his France tour, having only lost to Cisse once, in their first meeting in Miramas.
In the previous week, on Wednesday, February 8, Omanyala ran a blistering race to win in Mondeville, his third stop of the Indoor season, in a national record time of 6.55. On Saturday, February 11, he continued his hot streak at the Accor Arena in Paris, winning the race in 6.56 seconds.
Omanyala has returned to the country full of energy after a successful indoor season. He will now focus on the outdoor season, with the Athletics Kenya meet in Nairobi scheduled for the end of the month.