Omanyala, Tebogo and Simbine lead charge for first African 100m medal at the World Athletics Championships

Africa and Commonwealth Games 100m champion, Ferdinand Omanyala  leads a formidable trio of African sprinters who will be gunning for history in the 100m event at the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

The trio of Omanyala, Leslie Tebogo of Botswana and Akani Simbine of South Africa as well as two Nigerians, Ushoritse Itshekiri and Seye Ogunlewe and Emmanuel Matardi of Liberia will all be seeking spots in the event’s final when the semifinal heats get underway later Sunday evening.

Athletics followers, especially those in the African continent believe the trio of Omanyala,  Tebogo  and Simbine  are near sure candidates for the final which will be run later Sunday evening.

So, who among the trio will make history as the first African to make the podium in the event in the history of the championships?

The best the continent has gotten are fourth place finishes by Frankie Fredericks’ of Namibia in 1995 and 1997, Olusoji Fasuba of Nigeria in 2007 and Simbine in 2019.

Omanyala however looks the likely sprinter to make that history albeit he could not make the final last year in Oregon, USA.

The 27 year old holds the African record at 9.77 and is the fastest African (9.84) so far this year.

Omanyala is however not satisfied with just making the podium, the Kenyan wants to be crowned World champion.

Like Kenya did in 2015 when the east African nation emerged the overall best in Beijing at the 15th edition of the World Athletics Championships, Omanyala believes he’s got the talent to become the World 100m champion.

Simbine has the experience after finishing fourth in 2019 and fifth last year in Oregon.

Tebogo is however the dark horse and has been tipped to spring a surprise although athletics watchers believe that will likely happen in the 200m where he
made a statement last month when he set a new, 19.50 African record.