{"id":160848,"date":"2026-04-23T15:54:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T15:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/korir-promises-fireworks-from-omanyala-on-friday"},"modified":"2026-04-23T16:43:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T16:43:38","slug":"korir-promises-fireworks-from-omanyala-on-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/korir-promises-fireworks-from-omanyala-on-friday","title":{"rendered":"Korir Promises Fireworks from Omanyala on Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Kenya. <\/strong> <\/span>Kip Keino Classic meet director Barnaba Korir expects fireworks from Africa\u2019s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala on Friday, tipping the sprint king to deliver a commanding performance following his dominant run in Addis Ababa last weekend.<\/p>\n<p>On April 18, Omanyala lined up for his second 100m outing of the season at the Addis Ababa Grand Prix, blasting to victory in 9.98, his first sub-10-second clocking since August 2024.<\/p>\n<p>That explosive run saw him power past Christopher Borzor (10.16) and Chituru Ali (10.26). The African record holder opened his campaign on April 10 at the Cape Miller Continental Tour in South Africa, where he surged to victory in 10.19, signaling early-season intent.<\/p>\n<p>Following his Ethiopian statement, Korir believes fans are in for another electrifying dash from the 2022 Commonwealth Games 100m champion. \u201cFor the first time in almost two years, Omanyala managed to dip under 10 seconds and he looked really sharp,\u201d Korir said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am sure we are going to see fireworks from him this Friday. He is ready.<\/p>\n<p>\u201dOmanyala has grown into the marquee attraction of the Kip Keino Classic since bursting onto the scene in 2021. On debut, he scorched to a stunning 9.77 African record to finish second behind American Trayvon Bromell (9.76).<\/p>\n<p>Omanyala returned in 2022 with authority, storming to victory in 9.85 ahead of American heavyweights Fred Kerley (9.92) and Isaiah Young (10.13). He successfully defended his crown the following year in 9.84, once again holding off a strong American charge led by Kenneth Bednarek (9.98) and Marvin Bracy-Williams (10.03).<\/p>\n<p>However, recent editions have posed sterner tests for the 30-year-old, with a fifth-place finish in 2024 (10.03) and third place last year (10.07). Korir revealed that former national record holder Mark Otieno will line up alongside Omanyala.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had one slot remaining in the 100m, but the athlete we were expecting will not be coming, so we decided to hand that opportunity to one of our own, Mark Otieno,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>Korir added that Otieno\u2019s performance in Addis Ababa, where he finished fourth in 10.27, did not go unnoticed. \u201cI saw how he ran in Ethiopia. He is really improving and we want to see him dip under 10 seconds on home soil,&#8217; Korir said.<\/p>\n<p>The National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK) first vice president also pointed to the steady rise of sprinting in the country, a discipline traditionally overshadowed by distance running.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSprints are not popular in Kenya, but that is now changing. We want to grow sprinting and make it a key discipline in all our major events,\u201d Korir noted.<\/p>\n<p>Omanyala and Otieno will square off against a formidable international cast led by Canada\u2019s 2018 Commonwealth 200m silver medallist Aaron Brown. Also in the mix are American speedsters Brandon Hicklin, Sam Blaskowski and Pjai Austin, alongside South Africa\u2019s Rivaldo Roberts and Gift Leotlela.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Kenya<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Kenya. Kip Keino Classic meet director Barnaba Korir expects fireworks from Africa\u2019s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala on Friday, tipping the sprint king to deliver a commanding performance following his dominant run in Addis Ababa last weekend. On April 18, Omanyala lined up for his second 100m outing of the season at the Addis [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":160847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[544],"class_list":["post-160848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-kenya"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Korir Promises Fireworks from Omanyala on Friday - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Kenya. 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