Omanyala Seeks First Win in Four Years Over Noah Lyles at Golden Gala in Rome
Kenya’s Sprint Star Targets Breakthrough Against Olympic Champion
African 100m record holder Ferdinand Omanyala will be chasing his first-ever victory over reigning Olympic and five-time World Champion Noah Lyles when the two sprint titans clash at the Golden Gala Diamond League meeting in Rome on Thursday.
Omanyala, who stormed to victory in Xiamen last month, enters the race in formidable form as he seeks to break his seven-race losing streak against the American.
Lyles, boasting a season’s best of 9.95 seconds, last faced Omanyala at the Racers Grand Prix in Jamaica in June 2024, where he clocked 9.85 to finish second while the Kenyan settled for third in 10.02.
The 30-year-old Kenyan is also aiming for his second Diamond League 100m win of the season and his third overall since joining World Athletics’ elite one-day circuit.
His challenge in Rome will not only be against Lyles but also against a strong field that includes 2020 Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs, whom Omanyala has beaten six times in six meetings, as well as African rivals Akani Simbine, Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, the reigning Olympic 200m champion.
