by Deji Ogeyingbo
Akani Simbine, photo by Getty Images/ British Athletics
Ferdinand Omanyala, photo by Kip Keino Classic LOC
Deji Ogeyingbo wrote this piece about the upcoming Men’s 100 meters at the ASA Grand Prix, on April 13, 2022. This could be a fascinating race this early in the season.
Akani Simbine finally lock horns with Ferdinand Omanyala after the Kenyan snagged his 100m African Record
This is not Akani Simbine’s first race in South Africa. He has raced in his hometown numerous times, having not lost over the 100m since 2014. When the African Champion laces his spikes on Wednesday at the ASA Grand Prix to run the men’s 100m to take on Ferdinand Omanyala, it would feel a whole lot like his first time.
Righty so, the Kenyan has hugged the headline after his exploits in the latter part of 2021, where he reached the semifinal of the men’s 100m before going on to break Simbine’s African record, clocking 9.77s in Nairobi almost two months later.
Yet, despite Simbine’s glittering CV, 32 sub-10s runs, the dominance of the African scenery, and consistently being the only African male sprinter to reach a global championship final in the last two editions, he will line up as not being the favorite for the first time in a race in his country.
Feels weird, but that’s what top-level sport craves. The competition that brings the best out of athletes. This duel against Omanyala will sure trigger a reaction from the Commonwealth Games champion.
Omanyala stands half a head taller than Simbine but a bit bulkier. These days, attributes like this don’t make the tide tilt towards you in a race, but the Kenyan seems to have defied the odds. The narrative that the East African nation can’t produce great sprinters has already been defied by him already.
Although the velvet drapes and glittering casts at the Germiston Stadium will offer so much more, this is the star attraction. Two heavyweights of African track chomping at each other for 10 seconds. It might feel short, there is a sense that it might define both their season going into the summer where the World Championships and Commonwealth games beckon.
There is an artistic undercurrent to this battle, too. Interestingly, this is not the first time both sprinters will be meeting. They faced each other in early September at the Allianz memorial Van Damme, prior to Omanyala breaking the African Record.
Simbine was one of the favorites to nick the win in Belgium despite his dismal showing at the Olympics, while Omanyala was just taking each race one step at a time. Running shoulder to shoulder with American Fred Kerley, the South African had one of his worst races of the season as he could only manage 6th place (10.18). Meanwhile, Omanyala placed 4th in 10.02.
So, here we are. Seven months later and there two will justle for who is Africa’s King of sprinting, albeit, take the first bite. Simbine has a knack for getting off well because of his more diminutive build while he keeps his running form at a constant speed for the most part of the race.
Omanyala, meanwhile, has the better second half of a race. He already has the luxury of racing in South Africa after he clocked 10.11 last week on his way to winning at the McArthur Stadium in Potchefstroom.
Most athletes will come up with the whole rhetoric and say they don’t judge their season this early as it’s mostly about building form and working on some of their weaknesses. Wednesday’s race might seem like it but deep down, both sprinters know a whole lot more is at stake.
