NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 30 – Ferdinand Omanyala has opened up on the heartbreak of missing out the possibility of two medals at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, due to the 4x100m relay team’s mess up with the baton exchange in the final.
Omanyala was on the way to earning two medals, but the team could not finish the final, with the baton not even getting to Omanyala after mix-up in the second exchange.
“It was a big heartbreak. We really ran good in the semis and we enjoyed it because we had a good outing as a team. But the final was a heartbreak,” Omanyala says.
“In relay, you have four people and it is a team sport. When you have one team member who doesn’t really have a great feeling and doesn’t take it seriously then that is what happens,”
“The stick never even got to me and it was devastating. I thought I was dreaming. But all the same, everything happens for a reason,” Omanyala says.
And now, the African champion and record holder has vowed to use that disappointment to help the team qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, by reaching the final of the World Relays next season and possibly have a shot at the title.
“We will have the World Relays in China next year and one of my biggest targets I have set up for myself is to help the team get to the final. We know that if you get to the final then you earn a ticket to Paris 2024,” Omanyala states.
He adds; “I think we have all it takes as a team to get to the final and maybe even get a medal. I will go there with an aim to run my best because the relay is one of my favourite events.”
Omanyala says he will start his pre-season training in mid-November and will most likely shift his training to Italy on the turn of the new year.
