Historically, Kenya is known for producing some of the world-best athletes, more so in long-distance races.
Over the years, we have seen Kenyan athletes such as Eliud Kipchoge, Kipchoge Keino, and Catherine Ndereba among others winning medals in international races such as Olympics.
Kenya has, however, not been lucky on the track when it comes to sprint races. Ferdinand Omanyala, however, changed the fortunes of the nations after he broke its longstanding 100 meters record.
Omanyala clocked 9.77s to break the country’s 100 meters National record for the fifth time during the Ki Keino Classic competition.
In the race, Omanyala broke South Africa Akani Simbine’s record of 9.86 seconds and his previous national record that stood at 9.86s.
Before Omanyala, however, there have been a series of other printers who held the national record in the 100-meter sprint.
Some of those printers who held the national record include;
| Event | Record | Athlete | Date | Meet | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 meter-race | |||||||
| Ferdinand Omurwa | 31 July 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | ||||
| 10.00 (-0.1 m/s) | Ferdinand Omurwa | 1 August 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | |||
| 9.96 (+0.4 m/s) | Ferdinand Omurwa | 14 August 2021 | Internationales Josko Laufmeeting | Andorf, Austria | |||
| 9.86 (+0.6 m/s) | Ferdinand Omurwa | 14 August 2021 | Internationales Josko Laufmeeting | Andorf, Austria | |||
| 9.9 h NWI | Maurice Wasike | 11 May 2017 | Kenya Defence Forces Championships | Nairobi, Kenya |
