Nowhere to hide for Ferdinand Omanyala as Jamaican & American rivals sign up for his next race

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala will come up against familiar rivals at the Silesia Diamond League in Poland on August 25.

Omanyala will face Olympics silver medallist Kishane Thompson, bronze medallist Fred Kerley as well as former Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs in the race which also has Jamaican Ackeem Blake and American former world champion Christian Coleman.

It is a star-studded field which will give Omanyala a chance to right the wrongs of the Paris Olympics when he failed to make it to the final.

Omanyala had a disappointing outing in Paris as he finished eighth in his semi-final heat after clocking 10.08 seconds but bounced back in spectacular fashion at the Josko Lauf Meeting in Austria, on Saturday, dipping under 10 seconds to record an an impressive 9.95 seconds in the heats.

His critics have, however, claimed he only wins races that ‘do not matter’ and he has a chance to shut them up in Silesia, given the strong field.

The Kenyan went into the Olympics with the world’s fastest time of 9.79 but it counted for nothing as he missed out on the final which was won by American Noah Lyles, edging out Thompson by fine margins, after both clocked 9.79, as Kerley bagged bronze in 9.81.

Besides Omanyala, Coleman will also be out to make amends after missing out on the 100m at the Olympics, while Jacobs and Blake also search redemption following disappointing Olympics outings.