Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, is confident that his younger brother Isaac Omurwa is on the cusp of breaching the elusive sub-10-second barrier in the 100m.
The African sprint king has built a formidable resume, earning global acclaim as the driving force behind the sprint revolution in Kenya and across the continent.
Yet, emerging from that towering shadow is his 22-year-old brother, Omurwa, a rising prospect determined to carve out his own lane and script his own sprinting story.
Omurwa is still chasing the coveted sub-10 mark, widely regarded as the gold standard in the 100m dash. His personal best currently stands at 10.36 seconds, clocked at Nyayo National Stadium in 2024.
Omanyala, however, does not doubt that a breakthrough is imminent. “I am looking forward to having him run his first sub-10 sooner,” Omanyala told Botswana’s Mmegi Online. Omurwa has steadily been building his profile on the national stage since announcing himself at the African Under-20 Championships in Ndola, Zambia, in 2023.
There, he doubled up in the 100m and 200m, clocking 10.71 to finish sixth in the 100m final, while his 22.27 saw him bow out in the 200m semi-finals.
His upward trajectory continued last year when he donned national colours at the FISU World University Games in Bochum, Germany, again lining up in both sprint events. He posted 21.20 for fifth place in the 200m semi-finals, while a 10.79 run in the 100m saw him exit at the heats stage.
Despite those modest international returns, Omanyala believes his younger sibling is already better positioned for success than he was at a similar stage, armed with structure, clarity and elite mentorship. “My journey was longer because there were a lot of mixed things, trying a lot of stuff with no definite plan,” he explained. “But for him, there is a definite plan. He already has a blueprint of success and guidance from me.”
Omanyala’s own journey to sprinting stardom was anything but straightforward. Having only begun sprinting in 2015, he did not dip under the 10-second barrier until August 14, 2021, when he blazed to 9.86 seconds in Andorf, Austria, a defining moment that catapulted him onto the global stage.
He would go on to shatter the African record at the Kip Keino Classic that same year, storming to a blistering 9.77 seconds, a run that cemented his legacy as the continent’s fastest man. The reigning Commonwealth Games 100m champion admits he had no trailblazer to follow in his formative years. “I didn’t have anyone to look up to because everyone was looking up to me, so there was a lot of shooting in the dark.”
Omurwa is still chasing the coveted sub-10 mark, widely regarded as the gold standard in the 100m dash. The baton now appears to be passing, not just within the national sprint ranks, but within the family itself. Omanyala is relishing the prospect of watching his younger brother flourish on the track and seize the opportunities that come with elite performance.
“I am excited to see how his journey is going to be and how many opportunities he is going to get from this,” he said. “I love that he decided to take this up; it’s in the family now.”
