Ferdinand Omanyala Omurwa, better known as Ferdinand Omurwa, is the all-time fastest Kenyan sprinter. He excels in the 60, 100, and 200 meter distances. He earned his first international titles in 2022, taking first place in the 100-meter race at the Commonwealth Games and the African Championships in Athletics. With a time of 10.02s, he upset South African Akani Simbine, the current champion, to win the Commonwealth Games 2022. In addition, Omanyala holds the African record and ranks ninth all-time in the event's quickest man.
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The athlete couldn’t be a part of the Kenya Sevens Team Under-20. However, he didn’t let the opportunity to stop him from working towards other objectives. As a local sprinter, he began his professional career. A majority of the races he entered saw him triumph. His extraordinary sprinting speed caught the attention of coach Duncan Ayiemba, who helped him refine it. A few weeks after switching from rugby to track, he ran a 10.4-second time at his first AK meet in Kakamega. He ran a mark of 10.37 seconds to win the national 100-meter Olympic trials that year. However, he was unable to beat the then-current qualifying time of 10.16 seconds for the Olympics.
Omanyala was suspended for 14 months for a 2017 doping offence. He tested positive for the illegal drug betamethasone after receiving treatment for a back injury sustained while training. In 2019, he won the 100-meter national championship. On March 30, 2021, he won a competition at the Yabatech Sport Complex in Lagos (NGR), setting a new national record in the 100 meters with a timing of 10.01 seconds. He established a new national record of 10.00 seconds in the 100-meter semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He finished third in the semis behind Fred Kerley and Andre De Grasse. Both the athletes went on to become the silver and bronze medalists respectively at the mega event.
In August, Omanyala breached the 10-second barrier in Austria by running a new personal best of 9.86 seconds, making him the first Kenyan to ever do so. He set a new African record on September 18, 2021, at the Absa Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya, finishing just behind Trayvon Bromell, who set the year’s top mark of 9.76 seconds. Omanyala became the first Kenyan to win gold in the 100-meter race in the Commonwealth Games 2022, which gave Kenya its first ever gold medal in this discipline. In the 2023 season, he defeated defending Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs in the 60 meters sprint race with a time of 6.54 seconds at the World Athletics Indoor Gold Tour in Lievin.
| Event | Total | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Commonwealth Games | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| African Championships | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Marcel Viljoen is the coach of Ferdinand Omanyala. Marcel is a World Athletics (WA) accredited Athlete Representative and the creator of Fitness From Africa, which is situated in South Africa. He has over 25 years of experience in coaching. He also represents two other athletes, including Russian athlete Galaletsang Ramorwa and Uganda’s Jacent Nyamahunge, in addition to managing Omanyala. Omanyala was previously coached by Duncan Ayiemba.
| Competition | Best Result | Event | Timing | Position |
| Olympic Games | Tokyo Olympics 2020 | Men’s 100m | 10 | SF 1 (Third) |
| World Athletics Championships | Oregon 2022 | Men’s 100m | 10.14 | SF 3 (fifth) |
| Commonwealth Games | Birmingham 2022 | Men’s 100m | 10.02 | Gold |
He was born on January 2, 1996 to Shikanga Omurwa and Fred Omurwa. His parents Shikanga and Fred are also his biggest admirers. Shikanga recalls how quickly her kid used to run as a young boy with fondness. Omanyala is the third child of the couple. The athlete attended a nearby elementary school. He was very active in sports when he was little and excelled in academics. He passed the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam with great grades, and he enrolled in Friends School Kamusinga to complete his high school studies. He participated in high school rugby. He was invited to join the Kenya Sevens Team Under-20 after high school, but the trials never happened. Following his high school graduation, he enrolled at the University of Nairobi. He participated in university rugby.
Ferdinand Omanyala after becoming the Commonwealth Games 2022 champion in 100 meters (Image Credits - Twitter)
Ferdinand Omanyala after breaking the national record in Nairobi (Omanyala in a file photo)
Ferdinand Omanyala in action at the World Championships 2022 in Oregon (Omanyala in a file photo)
Ferdinand Omanyala in a file photo
