Commonwealth Games champion Ferdinand Omanyala will be back in action in the Diamond League at the fourth leg of the prestigious competition in Rome on Thursday evening.
Omanyala will be among an elite field of sprinters that will be vying for top honour in the men’s 100m, in a race that will bring the curtains down on a thrilling evening of track and field action.
The 2022 African champion walks onto the track as the second fastest man this year, boasting a season’s best (SB) of 9.94 seconds, which he clocked at the second leg of the Diamond League in Xiamen, China, a fortnight ago.
American youngster, World Indoor 60m champion Anthony Jordan boasts the fastest time in the startlist, having run 9.91 seconds at the Tom Jones Memorial in Florida on April 18.
Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn
For Omanyala, continuity will be the key word as he seeks to stick to the path of his newfound hot streak that has seen him clock a sub-10, five times in the last two months.
Victory at Xiamen earned him his second ever Diamond League victory since he clocked 9.92 to win in Monaco in July 2023.
To get his third, however, he will have to quickly get over his last performance in which he clocked 10.23, despite winning the men’s 100m at the Triveneto International Meeting in Italy, last Sunday.
Also to note are his opponents who will be equally angling to cross the finish line ahead of him.
Omanyala will know they are no rivals to be sniffed considering their rich resume of achievements.
They include Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles who clocked 9.95 on his way to victory at the Tokyo Grand Prix on May 17.
The 2020 Olympic champion Lamont Jacobs is also another one Omanyala will be wary of, considering the Italian will have the home crowd behind him — and a steely determination to make a mark in his first race of the year.
South Africa’s Akani Simbine is also another one with an axe to grind, having flattered to deceive in the Diamond League races he has competed in thus far this season.
Meanwhile, after struggling to make the podium in Shanghai and Xiamen, Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo redeemed himself with a second-place finish at the third leg of the Diamond League in Rabat on Sunday — clocking 19.96 in the men’s 200m.
Ever the calm and collected sprinter — but devastating and competitive nonetheless — the Botswana sprinter will be looking forward to continuing his resurgence with victory in the Italian capital.
With the who-is-who of sprints lining up alongside him at the blocks, Omanyala will indeed need to churn out an almighty performance if he is to make a statement.