Ferdinand Omanyala Wins 100m Gold At Commonwealth Games [VIDEO]

Africa's fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, has clinched the gold medal for Kenya in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom. 

He clocked a time of 10.02 seconds to win the men's title ahead of defending champion Akani Simbine from South Africa who came second at a time of 10.13 seconds 

Yupun Abekyoon won a brilliant Bronze for Sri Lanka in 10.14 seconds.

Watch a video of the race:

The 26 year old became the first Kenyan in 60 years to win the Commonwealth Games.

Seraphino Antao was the first and only Kenyan to win the 100m sprint at the Club games in 1962, when the race was 100 yards (Approximately 91.44 metres).

Omanyala took control of the race from the sound of the starting gun and famously burst past the final 50 metres to win the prized medal. 

The Commonwealth Games gold is his first medal in a major sporting competition and his first in his debut final, having missed out at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Indoor Championships and the World Championships last month, where he got as far as the semi finals in all of them. 

In the Commonwealth Games, he got past the semi final, having coincidentally finished at the same time he did in the final, that is 10.02 seconds. 

This is a big win for him considering the woes he has been going through in the past few weeks where he ran into visa issues that almost cost him a place at the World Championships in Oregon, USA.

He arrived in Oregon two hours before his first race and missed out on the finals after finishing fifth in the semis.

Omanyala on Friday, July 22 defended the government after Atheltics Kenya (AK) revealed that he was to blame for his visa woes, advising Kenyans to stop blaming the Ministry of Sports for the issue, which had seen him miss out on travelling with Team Kenya for the championships on Tuesday night, July 12.

He noted that it was actually the Ministry, under Sports Cabinet Secretary, Amb Amina Mohammed, which rescued him from the saga which if it did not happen, would have seen him miss out on the championships which would have been a huge blow to the athletics team.

"Like I said, there is no one to blame for my visa delay.

"We all as athletes went for visa interviews at the embassy. After that, I was sent supplementary questions that needed clarification," read the statement in part.

Omanyala added that on the penultimate day, his visa from the US Embassy in Kenya was not released, prompting the government to step in and solve the issue.

Ferdinand Omanyala during the World Championships in Oregon, USA on July 16, 2022.