Ferdinand Omanyala, the Kenyan champion sprinter, set the Nairobi track ablaze on Saturday at the Kenyan Olympic trials.

Clocking a blistering 9.79 seconds in the 100m race, Omanyala not only secured his place at the upcoming Paris Olympics but also stole the show with a new world-leading time this season.

This impressive feat was a powerful statement of intent from Omanyala, who is already the reigning Commonwealth Games 100m champion and Africa’s fastest athlete.

The win wasn’t entirely unexpected, with Omanyala hinting at his ambitions after the semi-finals.

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This race was likely his last in Nairobi before the Paris Games, and he did not disappoint the roaring Kenyan crowd.

Omanyala’s win wasn’t the only story of the race. Mark Otieno, a former national champion, put on a valiant effort, finishing second at 10.12 seconds.

Though Otieno fell short of the qualifying time for Paris, his performance demonstrated the strength of Kenyan sprinting.

With the Kenyan Olympic trials concluded, the spotlight now shifts to the horizon and the highly anticipated Paris Olympics.

Omanyala’s world-leading time has served as a warning shot to his competitors, setting the stage for an electrifying showdown in the 100m finals.

World 3000m steeplechase bronze medalist Faith Cherotich will make her Olympic debut in Paris where she carries Kenya’s hopes to reclaim the title alongside world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech.

Cherotich, the reigning U20 champion, pipped an unbothered Beatrice at the finish, as the duo got the automatic places in 9:22.28 and 9:22.76 respectively.

Commonwealth Games champion Jackline Chepkoech was third in 9:34.86 and here fate lies with the selection panel.

The trio proved too strong for the rest of the field as, after just two laps, the field was split into two with Beatrice leading a quartet of Cherotich, Jackline and Diana Chepkemoi.

One more lap and Chepkemoi was dropped leaving the trio to battle as Jackline took charge of the race. Her lead was, however, shortlived as she too was dropped as the other two did battle, seemingly leisurely as Beatrice would later admit that the squad decided to take the race slow.

“We have been training hard preparing for the Games and our bodies are a bit tired so we settled on a comfortable pace as qualification was the most important thing for us and we were ceratin of being on the podium,” Beatrice offered after the race.

Chepkoech placed seventh in her signature event with a time of 9:16.33 at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympic and she is keen to make amends in Paris and deliver Kenya’s first gold for women in the distance at the Games.

The last two titles have been won by Kenyan-born Ruth Jebet of Bahrain and Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai but Beatrice believes Kenya has a squad that could finally break the jinx.

“This is our time now. We have a strategy that we will perfect on as soon as we head to camp as at the moment everyone is preparing individually,” Chepkoech added.

Mathare United have secured promotion back to the Kenyan Premier League after defeating Darajani Gogo 3-0 in a National Super League game at Dandora Stadium on Friday afternoon.

The win places the Slum Boys at the top of the table with 79 points, leapfrogging Mara Sugar, who have 78 points, ahead of Mara’s game against Kibera Black Stars later this afternoon.

United picked up maximum points with ease, putting Gogo, who had nothing to play for, to the sword.

Meshack Ochieno opened the scoring in the first half before Steve Kimari and Fidel Otieno completed the win with two second-half goals.

Mathare received a major boost on Thursday when the FKF’s Leagues and Competitions Committee awarded them three points from their match against Rainbow played last month after a suspended Rainbow official, Lawrence Suji, was found to have sat on the bench during the game. This decision reduced the gap between Mathare and Mara to just one point.

Suji was reportedly on the bench against United despite being sent off during the game against Mara Sugar days earlier. This decision was contested by both Rainbow and Mara, who insisted that it was head coach Mohammed Hamisi and Technical Director Stanley Okumbi who were dismissed, not Suji.

“No sane coach would take his team out when he knows he is serving a suspension. Both Okumbi and Hamisi are top professionals and would never do such a thing. FKF should stop this; they are killing the beautiful game,” stated Mara Sugar’s head coach Benedict Wanjala.

He further argued that FKF should cease making decisions in the boardroom to benefit a single team and allow the games to be decided on the field.

“In my entire coaching career, I have never seen a situation like this before. We know the tactics and who they want to benefit. As Mara, we are not happy. Let football be played on the pitch, not in boardrooms. They are fighting against what God has planned, and we will beat them out there,” he added.

The two teams will meet in the penultimate game of the season next weekend at the Awendo Green Stadium.

United was relegated at the end of last season after they finished in the second-to-last position with 29 points, but they have managed to bounce back immediately. Third-placed Naivas FC and fourth-placed Nairobi United will contest the playoff spot.