Cape Town — He came, he saw and he conquered. That was the total sum of African sprint king Ferdinand Omanyala’s night at the Athletics SA Grand Prix 4 meeting at the Germiston Stadium in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Kenyan star Omanyala is the African record-holder in the 100m, with a time of 9.77 seconds, which was set in Nairobi last September.
On that occasion, the 26-year-old had broken the previous mark of 9.84, which belonged to South Africa’s Akani Simbine.
So, that set the tone for the Germiston duel, where the duo went head-to-head in the 100m.
⏰ 𝟵.𝟵𝟴𝘀 ⏰
Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala, the 𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙣 on the African continent, wins the 100m in Germiston with Akani Simbine finishing in second place 💨 pic.twitter.com/ZSu2UjwDn0
Omanyala has been in Mzansi for a while and won his 100m race in Potchefstroom easily last week in a time of 10.11, but he saved his best for last.
Simbine had the better start in Germiston, taking the lead out of the blocks. But the powerfully-built Omanyala quickly caught up with the home athlete, and eventually stormed away to a superb time of 9.98 seconds on a chilly Johannesburg evening.
It must be remembered, though, that Simbine has only recently started competing again, with his main focus being the African championships, world championships and Commonwealth Games in the mid-year period.
The 28-year-old was well short of his best in a 200m race last week, but showed his class to produce a strong time of 10.11 seconds so early in the year.
Ferdinand Omanyala doing us proud in South Africa beats Akani Simbine🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/3RBKzRxqMr
— MMA Kenya (@MMAFansKenya) April 13, 2022
But Omanyala stole the show on the night, and enjoyed the moment. “My main aim was to run under 10 (seconds),” he told SuperSport in a track-side TV interview.
“I’m not competing against him (Simbine)… it was me and the finish line. So, I’ve achieved what I can in South Africa, and I’m happy.
“It was a good start (to the season) – I’ve run 10.0. So, going under 10 at this time of the year means that we are expecting a very good season going forward. I’m looking forward to go 9.6!”
In the women’s 100m, Carina Horn proved that she is improving with every race as she clinched victory in the women’s 100m in a time of 11.43. The 33-year-old – whose SA record stands at 10.98 – made a superb start to storm into the lead.
Horn clocked 11.50 last week in Potchefstroom, and maintained her shape this time in Germiston all the way to the line. While Boipelo Tshemese made up some ground in the second half of the race, she was unable to catch up, and finished second in 11.49.
SA junior 100m and 200m record-holder Viwe Jingqi proved that she’s got the pedigree to be a senior star as well as she came up with a stunning run to win the 200m in a time of 23.10.
Jingqi had set new SA junior marks of 11.22 and 23.03 respectively a few weeks ago, and it was another easy night for the 17-year-old from Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape as she beat Banele Shabangu, who finished second in 23.79.
The men’s 200m was set to be an exciting race between SA record-holder Clarence Munyai, Botswana star Isaac Makwala and Gift Leotlela, but the rest of the field was far behind Munyai.
The 24-year-old displayed his 100m speed – he ran 10.04 recently – by bursting ahead, and he was never challenged in strolling to a 20.33 victory.
In one of the more memorable events of the night, Marioné Fourie finally broke through the sub-13-second barrier on an official basis by clocking 12.93 seconds in the women’s 100m hurdles.
The 19-year-old ran 12.86 in Pretoria in March, but the wind reading was beyond the legal limit at 2.2m/s. There were no such problems this time as she set a new personal best to become only the third South African athlete to dip under 13 seconds, behind national record-holder Rikenette Steenkamp (12.81) and Corien Botha (12.94).
In a hard-fought men’s 400m hurdles event earlier in the evening, Leroux Hamman ensured that he stayed in touch with Kenya’s Wiseman Were throughout the race, and the 30-year-old Tuks athlete managed to edge ahead close to the line to win in 50.49 seconds, with Were second in 50.55.
In the women’s 400m hurdles, veteran athlete Wenda Nel showed that she is not finished just yet, as she kept her composure to see off new hurdles sensation Taylon Bieldt.
Nel was her usual steady self through the first 200 metres as Bieldt charged into the lead, but they entered the home straight, Bieldt made a mistake with her strides as she approached a hurdle, and Nel took full advantage to clinch victory in 55.88. Bieldt had to be satisfied with second in 56.65.
Selected Results
Men’s 100m
1 Ferdinand Omanyala (Kenya) 9.98
2 Akani Simbine 10.11
3 Bradley Nkoana 10.32
Men’s 200m
1 Clarence Munyai 20.33
2 Benjamin Richardson 20.67
3 Isaac Makwala 20.89
Men’s 400m hurdles
1 Leroux Hamman 50.49
2 Wiseman Were (Kenya) 50.55
3 Constant Pretorius 51.52
Men’s 110m hurdles
1 Antonio Alkana 13.83
2 Ruan de Vries 13.87
3 Jorim Bangue 13.91
Women’s 100m
1 Carina Horn 11.43
2 Boipelo Tshemese 11.49
3 Phindile Kubheka 11.54
Women’s 200m
1 Viwe Jingqi 23.10
2 Banele Shabangu 23.79
3 Kaylee le Roux 24.41
Women’s 100m hurdles
1 Marioné Fourie 12.93
2 Charlize Eilerd 13.81
3 Inge van der Merwe 14.06
Women’s 400m hurdles
1 Wenda Nel 55.88
2 Taylon Bieldt 56.65