Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala Saturday shattered his own National Record to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games 100 metres semi-finals.
Omanyala set a new personal best and national record of 10.01 after placing third in Heat 5 to qualify for the semi-finals.
After a faulty start, Nigeria’s Divine Oduduru was then eliminated controversially for a false start before the heat finally got underway with Canadian Andre de Grasse winning in 9.91 seconds.
American Fred Kerley came second in 9.97 seconds while Omanyala was third.
The top three athletes from each of the seven heats qualify for the semi-finals as well as three athletes with the fastest times.
The other Kenyan in the 100m, Mark Otieno, did not take part in the qualifying rounds after failing a doping test earlier on Saturday.
Otieno, who qualified for the Games running on borrowed spikes during the national trials last month, had an Adverse analytical finding on a urine sample he provided last Wednesday.
He has however denied any knowledge of the violation and has subsequently requested a re-analysis of his B urine sample.
It’s a big blow to the sprint sensation who took part in various meets across Africa chasing the qualifying time.
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