Tebogo seeking to beat Omanyala to Diamond League history in Oregon
Like he did last month at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary where he raced into history book as the first African to win a 100m medal in
the history of the Championships, Botswana’s Lestile Tebogo will be seeking to score another first for Africa at the Diamond League final ahead of Kenya’s
Ferdinand Omanyala.
In the 100m final in Budapest, Tebogo (9.88) came second behind Noah Lyles (9.83) to win the silver medal while Omanyala (10.07), one of the pre-
championships favourites could only finish seventh.
Both men are in the final of the same event this time at the 2023 Diamond League final in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
Interestingly, both athletes are returning to the Hayward Field track where they failed to advance beyond the semifinal stage.
Like it was before the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last month, Omanyala is coming into this weekend’s event as one of the favourites after
scorching to a 9.94 finish to win at the Memorial Borisa Hanžekovića in Zagreb, Croatia.
No African man has ever been crowned Diamond League champion in the event and either Tebogo or Omanyala carry Africa’s hopes following the withdrwal from the event of South Africa’s Akani Simbine.
Tebogo and Omanyala will have to speed past reigning world champion, Lyles, 2019 world champion, Christian Coleman and 2011 world champion, Yohan Blake of Jamaica.
Also in the line up are another American, Bracy-Williams Marvin, two other Jamaicans, Ackeem Blake and Thompson Kishane as well as German, Hartmann Joshua.
