NAIROBI, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The last time an African athlete scaled the Olympic podium in the sprints was at Atlanta 1996 when retired Namibian great Frankie Fredricks won silvers in the men's 100m and 200m finals.
It was a repeat of his exploits at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games, where he also won the silver double.
Ahead of the forthcoming Paris 2024 Summer Games, there is renewed optimism that a sprinter from the continent will medal either in the short or longer dash-events considered to be the cream of track and field competition at the Olympics.
African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya, the ninth fastest men's 100m runner of all time, Botswana breakout starlet Letsile Thebogo and resurgent South African sprint king, Akani Simbine, have all enjoyed a solid start to the season and, more importantly, peaking at the right time.
Omanyala who holds the 9.77 seconds African record, underlined his credentials when he won the Kenyan Olympic Trial in 9.79 which was until last week, the fastest time of the year.
Kishane Thompson, who won the men's 100m in 9.77 at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Sunday, has supplanted Omanyala from the top of the 2024 world list, but considering the latter did it at Nairobi's punishing elevation, there are reasons for the Kenyan to be optimistic of a medal in France.
Having burst onto the scene with his blazing time in 2021 at the height of the global pandemic, the 28-year-old, who has since won the Commonwealth and African men's 100m, has established a reputation as one of the most brazen and at times cocky top sprinter.
But that is all set to change as he prepares for his second Olympics after failing to make the final of the delayed Tokyo Summer Games.
Speaking to the media in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya on Monday, Omanyala cut the determined figure of a man who is focused on the ultimate goal - not the showmanship side that has endeared him to millions of fans at home and abroad.
"Our sport humbles you; everybody who is anybody in the sport has lost a race at some point. With that, you really understand that it's not always about you winning; it's about how humble you are; it's just that."
Biggest lesson
"It's the biggest lesson that I have learned and I understand that there is pressure coming in, especially as we go to the Olympics. There are a lot of expectations," the two-time African champion emphasized.
And indeed, lessons have been learned.
In April, Omanyala had boldly predicted he would not allow American sprint heavyweight Kenny Bednarek, the Olympic 200m silver medalist, to beat him on his home track during the Absa Kip Keino Classic, the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event that went down in Nairobi.
As it turned out, Bednarek stepped down the distance to win in 9.91 as Omanyala (10.03) faded to fifth in front of a passionate home crowd, and later, the American posted a video on social media that threw shade at the Kenyan.
However, behind the scenes, the Commonwealth champion was adjusting to changing coaches, with Geoffrey Kimani, who was part of the Kenya 7s rugby technical bench, taking over at the start of the year.
Retreating quietly to his new training regime and running technique, Omanyala turned up for the Olympic Trials in June a man transformed and humbled.
"This year, I am not giving anybody any target; I am not going to promise anybody anything."
"I know everybody wants to hear something from Omanyala like, what do you want to win, What do you want to get out of the Olympics? But this time, let's handle each race as it comes, let's go through the heats. You can't be planning about the semis and you are not even through the heats," he told reporters when pressed hard to underline his target for Paris.
On Sunday, Omanyala will take to the field at the FBK Games in Hengelo, a World Athletics Diamond League meeting where he will come face-to-face with the kind of competition he expects to meet in Paris.
Tweaked approach
That is where he aims to get to know his level ahead of travelling to the southern French city of Miramas, where Team Kenya will be based for their pre-Olympics training camp. Having blown hot and cold in the seasons since he stormed into the top ten of the all-time list in 2021, Omanyala has tweaked his approach to races under his new coach.
"From 0 to 30 meters has been a problem... There is a model that I have been taught but I was a bit scared to try it but I tried it in the trials and it worked, meaning I am adopting that model so I am hoping to see how I am going to run with that model when we are under pressure," he explained.
Under Kimani, Omanyala ran two national records during the indoor season earlier this year before his form dipped in April when the Kip Keino Classic came to town.
This time around, he has worked on ensuring he is in perfect shape at the right time, having flattered to deceive at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the subsequent Oregon 2022 and Budapest 2023 World Championships.
"So, we have to maintain it and make sure it peaks when it matters. I am happy that this year we got it right, because the last two seasons it's been about running fast in March and April and then during the championship, you're struggling to run the times you should be running," Omanyala stressed.
Besides the coaching on the track, Kimani, who was a long-serving strength and conditioning coach for Kenya 7s side, has also tweaked Omanyala's life outside the track.
"The first meeting we had, he told me to go back to school. It was easy because, with him, training has always been intense but short," he said.
"It's hard to do something when you are training for long but getting into my fourth year (university) in September after the Olympics, I am excited. I am hoping that next year, you guys will support me in my graduation," the sprinter revealed.
Different phases
Kimani maintains that his athlete was around 80 to 90 percent of what he was capable of at the trials ahead of the Olympics, saying there is more in the tank.
The coach added they have been working on getting the medal hopeful to execute the three phases involved in running the 100m: the drive phase (0-30m), transition phase (30-40m), and speed maintenance (40-60m).
"I was happy with what he did. Understanding your race model helps you to be able to run conservatively until the big thing, which is the (Olympics) final," he added.
At 28, Omanyala is aware Paris 2024 probably offers his best chance to become only the second African after Fredericks to medal at the sprints at the Olympics.
But with Thebogo and the resurgent Simbine also underscoring their intent from the continent, not to mention the Americans and Jamaican threats, the path to the podium will require the Kenyan to execute nothing less than three perfect races to realise his Olympic dream in France. ■
