Nairobi — Commonwealth Games champion Ferdinand Omanyala will make his Diamond League debut in Rabat on May 28 this year.
Africa's fastest man will be part of a star-studded cast of athletes in the men's 100m that comprises world champion Fred Kerley of the United States and Olympics champion Lamont Jacobs of Italy.
The start list also includes the winner of the 2021 Diamond League trophy, Trayvon Bromell of the United States, World Under 20 100m champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, former African record holder Akani Simbine of South Africa as well as the 2011 world 100m champion, Jamaican Yohan Blake.
Many of the names at the starting blocks will be familiar to each other, having competed before in numerous international competitions.
In particular, Omanyala will be buoyed by the fact that he has excelled against Kerley as well as Jacobs in previous encounters with both.
The African 100m champion clocked 9.85 to win the men's 100m at the third edition of the Kip Keino Classic in 2021 at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani as the American came second in 9.92.
Moreover, Omanyala stunned the Italian, also the world indoor 60m champion, at the Lievin World Indoor Tour where he clocked a national record of 6.54 to win the men's 60m.
Jacobs finished second with a season's best of 6.57 as Ivorian Arthur Cisse came third in 6.59.
The African 100m record holder has been on a sizzling streak, adding to his burgeoning reputation with national record of 14.89 in the men's 150m at the past weekend's Adidas Atlanta City Games in which he finished third.
At the bare minimum, a podium finish for Omanyala in the Moroccan capital would be an excellent way to announce himself on a grander stage as part of a growing breed of African sprinters who are staking their claim at the elite level.
First things first, he will be in action on Saturday at the Kip Keino Classic World Continental Tour Gold where he will be running against another American, Olympics 200m silver medalist Kenneth Bednarek, among other competitors.
