Ferdinand Omanyala, the current African 100m record holder, kicked off his international season with an impressive performance at the Miramas Metropole Indoor meet in France on Friday night.
Omanyala set a new meeting record in the 60m dash, crossing the finish line in 6.52 seconds. This achievement not only surpassed the previous meet record of 6.57 but also brought him close to the world lead of 6.48.
The Kenyan sprinter dominated the competition, leaving Cameroonian Eseme Emmanuel-Alobwede in second place with a time of 6.61, while Ivoirian athlete Arthur Cisse secured the third position with a time of 6.62.
Omanyala’s journey to victory began with a strong performance in the heats, where he clocked 6.62 to qualify for the final. Demonstrating consistent improvement, he went on to secure the meet record in the final.
Among the other Kenyan athletes in the competition, Lydia Lagat finished seventh in the women’s 1500m with a time of 4:15.24. In the men’s 400m, Wiseman Were and Boniface Mweresa claimed the third and fourth positions, recording times of 48.05 and 48.61, respectively.
Looking ahead, Omanyala is set to participate in his second indoor meet in the Capital Paris next weekend, building on the success of his stellar performance in Miramas.
