Kenya’s Omanyala wins 100m gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Omanyala, the Africa 100 metres champion, handed Kenya its first gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games when he dashed to victory in the men's 100m on Wednesday at the Alexander Stadium.
Omanyala made a sterling take-off to clock 10.02 seconds to win, beating defending champion Akani Simbine from South Africa to second place in 10.13 sec.
Yup Abeykoon from Sri Lanka hauled bronze in 10.14 sec.
“We have it…It’s now a reality!” said Omanyala, adding that he has been working for the victory since the beginning of the year.
“We have been looking forward to this, and thanks to my team and the Kenyans who have supported me throughout this journey,” explained Omanyala.
“It feels nice, and I know it will take days to sink. It feels nice in front of this receptive crowd.”
Omanyala said the victory is a big motivation for next season, where there will be a World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Omanyala hopes that the victory will continue to inspire and encourage many Kenyans and pave the way for many sprinters to come through in future.
“It needed someone to break the barrier because there will be so many other sprinters coming through. It will have a lot of impacts now that I have two championship gold medals and an Africa record,” noted Omanyala, who has a personal best of 9.77 seconds.
Omanyala said he used the challenges he faced during the just concluded World Athletics Championships in Oregon as a stepping stone to good performance.
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