Africa's fastest Man Ferdinand Omanyala reflects on humorous incident when officials disbelieved his incredible speed

Ferdinand Omanyala recently reflected on a funny incident when the race officials underestimated his stunning speed. Omanyala holds the African record in the men's 100m event, clocking 9.77 seconds.

He secured a gold medal in the 100m event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with a time of 10.02 seconds, surpassing Akani Simbine. The 28-year-old clocked a striking time of 9.77 seconds on September 18, 2021, at the Absa Kip Keino Classic held in Nairobi, Kenya. He thus became the ninth-fastest man of all time and an African record holder.

Omanyala rose to fame in his nation after registering 10.01 seconds at the Yabatech Sports Complex in Nigeria in March 2021. Later that year, he shaved off 0.01 seconds in the 100m semifinal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing behind Fred Kerley and Andre De Grasse.

During an interview on Ready Set Go hosted by Justin Gatlin, Omanyala recalled an incident where the officials doubted his speed and instead chose to recheck the measurement of the 100m field.

"That's one story that made me realized nobody believed that we could get to this levels in sprints," Omanyala said (17:20). "Even the Federation couldn't believe. There was time that I was running fast and they stopped the heats to just make sure that the field is 100 meters.

"They told the other guys wait wait wait, stop they got a tape measure from the store just to make sure that the field is 100 meters," he added.

"I'll go down as the fastest sprinter Kenya has ever had" - Ferdinand Omanyala

Ferdinand Omanyala of Team Kenya celebrates after winning the Gold medal in the Men's 100m Final on at the 2022 Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in England.

Hailing from a country known for its domination in middle and long-distance events, Ferdinand Omanyala recently revealed his goal of creating a sprinting culture in Kenya.

He became the first Kenyan athlete to achieve the sub-10 barrier after recording 9.86 seconds in Austria in 2021. He secured gold medals in the 100m and 4x100m at the 2022 African Championships in Mauritius. During an interview with Olympics.com, he conveyed his aim of creating his legacy in Kenya.

"I'll go down as the fastest sprinter Kenya has ever had," Ferdinand Omanyala said. "Of course my records will be broken, but [I'll be] the person who came about and changed the notion that Kenyans are only known for long and middle distance. That is what I'm going down in books for."

"And I'm hoping that we get more and more African sprinters."

He recently ran the fastest split in the Kenyan squad in the 4x100m relays at the 2024 World Athletics Relays.