NAIROBI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. sprinter Gabby Thomas delivered a dominant 100m-200m double on Friday at the seventh Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, while home favorite Ferdinand Omanyala reclaimed the men's 100-meter title in a season-best 9.96 seconds.
Thomas had already completed the sprint double at the inaugural Addis Ababa Grand Prix last week. Although Athletics Kenya initially listed the 29-year-old for the 400m, she ultimately lined up in the women's 100m and 200m.
In the women's 100m, Thomas crossed the finish line in 11.01 seconds, followed by her compatriots Cambrea Sturgis and Maia McCoy.
The triple Olympic champion then returned to win the 200 meters in a world-leading 21.89 seconds, knocking 0.18 seconds off the 2023 meeting record set by former world champion Sha'Carri Richardson. Sturgis finished second in 21.93 seconds, with Millicent Ndoro of Kenya taking third in 23.21 seconds.
"To me, this type of shape is really good, especially coming off an injury," Thomas told reporters, right after completing her impressive debut at the only World Athletics Continental Tour gold-tier meeting in Africa.
"I felt really good competing today. I had my training partner (Sturgis) out there with me. She also got under 22 seconds. I am so proud," she added.
In the men's 100m, South Africa's Gift Leotlela was disqualified for a false start. The race eventually got underway cleanly on the third attempt. Africa's 100-meter record holder Omanyala held his nerve to cover the distance within 10 seconds for a second time this season.
"It shows that the body is picking up well. We just have to maintain the sub-10 for now, then the 9.9-range, and later on in the season, we will try to pick it up to the 9.8-range," said Omanyala, whose 2025 season was hampered by a series of injuries.
On the men's side, South Africa's Sinesipho Dambile edged past Jamaica's Bryan Levell to win the 200 meters with a personal best of 19.77 seconds.
"My inner personality is to win at all costs. I'm not even watching at the times. All I'm looking at is just enjoying the race to make sure that I finish healthy," Dambile told Xinhua post-match.
Ranked world No. 1 in the men's 800 meters, Emmanuel Wanyonyi skipped his pet event but stepped up to the 1,500 meters, where the 21-year-old Kenyan clocked a winning 3:34.11 in front of his home crowd.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Ethiopia's Gemechu Godana kicked hard down the home straight to overtake Kenya's Simon Kiprop Koech, setting a new meeting record of 8:14.55.
Sri Lanka's Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage obliterated the previous meeting record in men's javelin throw, with a second-round 89.28-meter effort. Olympic reigning Champion Ethan Katzberg of Canada was a class apart from the rest of the field, defending his men's hammer throw title on the Kenyan soil with a throw of 82.43 meters.
On the women's side, Ethiopia's Tsige Duguma Getachew clocked 1:58.79 to beat world champion Lilian Odira in the 800 meters. Amalie Iuel of Norway won the 400-meter hurdles in 54.12 seconds, breaking her own meeting record set last year.
"I also have a personal best, which I am very happy with. I've never been this good. I'm going to take that with me and feel excited to start the season off with a new PR," Iuel told Xinhua at the mixed zone.
Canada's Olympic champion Camryn Rogers also set a new meeting record in the hammer throw with a final-round mark of 80.03 meters.
As the second leg of the 2026 World Athletics Continental Tour Gold-Level series, the seventh Kip Keino Classic was staged under floodlights and introduced the Wavelight pacing technology for the first time in its history. ■
