NAIROBI, Kenya, May 16, 2026 – Commonwealth Games champion Ferdinand Omanyala says his rich vein of form is down to a change in his training programme.
Omanyala says he has been doing a bit more loading, which has worked wonders for his speed.
“We change the training programme a little bit, we did more loading and we went to South Africa for training instead of Kenya, which really worked well for us. This is a good start to the season. I will keep going and prepared for the next year’s World Championships in Beijing,” he said.
The African record holder had a Diamond League opener to remember on Saturday, clocking 9.98 to finish second in Shanghai, in the men’s 100m.
South Africa’s Gift Leotlela did just about enough to snatch first place, clocking 9.97 as American Kenneth Bednarek came third in 9.98.
It is the fourth time Omanyala has run a sub-10 in the last one month, after a substantial period of substandard performances in which he struggled to breach the barrier.
It began with a 9.98 at the Addis Ababa Grand Prix on the way to victory on April 18, before stirring the home crowd at the Kip Keino Classic with a 9.96 in the men’s 100m.
He then clocked 9.95 to finish third at the Botswana Gold Grand Prix on April 26.
Regardless, his heart’s desire remains to make the podium at next year’s World Championships in Beijing.
Omanyala is hopeful that his present performances are the birth-pains of success at the world stage.
“I ran under 10 and I was satisfied, the result is good and we move on from there. Before the race, I had expectation to run under 10 and now I achieve that, I hope to keep the performance consistent in the next race in Xiamen,” he said.
In the short term, his attention turns to the second leg of the prestigious competition, set for Xiamen on Saturday (May 23).
