Nairobi — Commonwealth Games 100m champion Ferdinand Omanyala says he will be a man of few words and big on action as he competes in various races this year.
Omanyala said he has learnt his lesson from previous seasons where he made bold predictions ahead of international assignments, which heightened expectations among fans.
"This year...it will be like walking in darkness. I am just trusting the process and handling a day as it comes...no pressure, I don't want to make any predictions. I made predictions last season and people had a lot of expectations and things came out how it came out so this year I just want to focus on one race at a time," the African 100m champion said.
He added: "We still have a number of international competitions before the Olympics. We still have the Indoors...Diamond League and then the Olympics. So, we are just taking it a step at a time."
Having won his first medal at the African Championships in Reduit, Mauritius in 2022 -- following it up with a Commonwealth gold in Birmingham, two months later -- many had tipped Africa's fastest manner to make history as the first Kenyan sprinter to clinch a medal at the World Championships.
This belief was further solidified by some good showings in the Diamond League circuit where he shone against some of the best sprinters in the world -- finishing third and second at the Rabat and Paris legs respectively.
However, these hopes were not to be as Omanyala finished seventh in the men's 100m final after clocking 10.07 at the National Olympic Stadium in Budapest.
Drawing valuable lessons from an eventful year, the Kitale-born has not only made changes to his psychological approach to competition but also his physique, which he admits was sort of an impediment to his performance.
"Yeah, now I feel I can move much easier because previously I would feel like my back would crump and then it pulls my upper back, hamstring and glutes. Now I have cut back on my upper muscles as well as in my lower body. I lost like 3kgs in the last two months so that means the training is bearing fruits," he said.
Omanyala has called upon the services of renowned coach Geoffrey Kimani who has been taking him through his paces in the new season.
He says it won't be long before the fruits of his link-up with Kimani will be all and sundry for all to see.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"I'll leave that up to you as homework and tell you to wait and see next month's World Indoor Games. Let's see how everything will work out," Omanyala said.
He was in action over the weekend at the 2nd leg of the Athletics Kenya (AK) Track and Field Weekend Meeting at Ulinzi Sports Complex where he competed -- for the first time in his career -- in the men's 400m.
Omanyala, who timed 49.06 to finish fifth in Heat 1, said the race was a training opportunity for him as he prepares to double in the 200m this year.
"Basically, we had a time trial for 300m and the coach said to register me in the 400m. Fortunately, it is something I've wanted to do for a while. The experience was good and I believe if I do it again I will be better. We wanted to see where the endurance is...this year we are also running in the 200m and 400m is basically half of that," he explained.
Omanyala said his next local race will be at the fifth edition of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold -- also known as Kip Keino Classic -- set for May this year.
