Ferdinand Omanyala and Other Sprinters Whose Coaching Changes Failed to Pay Off

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala confirmed last week that he had ditched his coach of the last two years Geoffrey Kimani and returned to ex-tactician Duncan Ayiemba.

Omanyala opted to sever ties with Kimani following the end of their two-year deal and went back to familiar surroundings after witnessing little success during the last couple of years.

However, Omanyala is not the only athlete whose coaching changes failed to pay off as a number of athletes also opted to shift base, especially with an eye on success at the Paris 2024 Olympics and 2025 World Championships, but have suffered a dip instead.

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Ferdinand Omanyala parted ways with long-time coach Duncan Ayiemba in late 2023 following his disappointing seventh place finish at that year’s World Championships.

Omanyala and Ayiemba had worked together for a long time, but the sprinter saw the need for a change ahead of the Olympics.

He started working with Geoffrey Kimani but it did not start well for Omanyala, who was fifth at the 2024 Kip Keino Classic in 10.03, but he improved as time went on, recording 9.98 at the Prefontaine Classic in May, before a season’s best 9.79 at the Olympics trials in June, then the world’s fastest time.

From there, he did not dip under 10 seconds, managing 10.01 at the BFK Games in Hangelo, his final race before the Olympics. At the Olympics, Omanyala was eliminated at the semi-finals following an eighth-place finish in 10.08 seconds.

The mistakes of 2024 were to be corrected in 2025 but it got worse instead as Omanyala had his worst season this year, failing to record a sub-10 performance the entire season.

Omanyala’s best performance was 10.00 seconds recorded at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix in April while at Kip Keino Classic, he finished third in 10.07 seconds.

The 29-year-old was also hampered by injuries during the 2025 season and headed to the World Championships not in his optimum conditions, managing 10.12 in the heats but was eliminated at the semi-final after finishing fifth in 10.09.

That disappointment seems to have encouraged the sprinter to make another coaching change and he will be hoping for a return to winning ways under the man who shaped his career.

Italian Marcell Jacobs struggled with form and injuries since winning his Olympics gold in 100m at the Tokyo 2020 Games and there were fears that he could fail to defend his title.

A late improvement in form saw him clock 9.92 in Finland in June 2024 to make it to Paris. This had come after Jacobs moved from his Rome base to Florida, USA to work under coach Rana Reider in Jacksonville.

Having been training in Rome under Paolo Camossi for several years, Jacobs felt a new environment could provide good returns but at the Paris 2024 Olympics, he managed 10.05 in the first round, 9.92 in the semi-finals and in the final, he clocked 9.85 to finish fifth.

Heading into 2025, Jacobs still had his troubles and could only feature in a few events due to injuries. He headed to the World Championships after running just two 100m races and he struggled in Tokyo, managing 10.20 in the heats, 10.16 in the semi-final as he exited the event after a sixth-place finish.

Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith also split from her coach in 2023, leaving long-time tactician John Blackie, nine months before the Paris 2024 Olympics, ending a 19-year relationship following her disappointing results at that year's World Championships, where she finished eighth in the 100m final and seventh in the 200m.

She also relocated to the United States to work with Edrick Floreal in Austin, Texas. However, at the Olympics, she missed out on an individual medal again, coming fourth in the 200m and fifth in 100m. Her saving grace was 4x100m relay silver with Team GB.

In 2025, Britain’s most successful female sprinter opted to leave Floreal again, returning back home, but it did not yield dividends as she finished eighth in the 100m final at the World Championships, fifth in the 200m final and there was no relay medal this time as Team GB finished fourth in the 4x100m final.

Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse was another one who had a poor return after changing coaches in a bid to get success.

Like Jacobs, De Grasse also moved to Florida to work with Rana Reider in 2023 but failed to defend his Olympics 200m title in Paris last year as he missed out on the final while in the 100m, he also exited at the semis.

He was, however, part of the Canadian team that won gold in 4x100m relays after capitalising on a mix-up amongst the Americans to storm to an unlikely win.

In 2025, it was a similar outcome as De Grasse exited the 100m at the semi-final after a fifth-place finish and the same happened in his specialty, the 200m, where he finished sixth in his semi-final heat. He, however, won silver in 4x100m with Team Canada.

Jamaican sprint queen Elaine Thompson-Herah ditched veteran coach Reynaldo Walcott and his Elite Performance Track Club in October 2024 after experiencing a tough season that saw her miss the Olympics due to an injury.

Thompson-Herah had worked with Walcott for less than a year, having joined him in November 2023, as she looked forward to the 2024 Olympics, seeking to defend her 100m and 200m titles but all went up in smoke when an Achilles injury ruled her out of the Paris Games.

Since then, nothing has been heard of Thompson-Herah and she has never publicly confirmed the new coach she opted to work with. It is not also known if she recovered from her injury as she has not run again since June 2024, missing the 2025 World Championships.