Omanyala 9.87: East Africans can sprint too

He does not pass the eye test. And in fact the real tests as well.

I predicted he would win on that letsrun poll, but it seems I was one of the few ones who thought so.

I am in Kenya now, and just watched the race on a big screen in a restaurant with Kenyans, in Iten, and everyone went beserk.

For those who think he is not legit, he has presumably been tested numerous times.

Actually, Omanyala was lucky to win the race, because on the first gun, it seems he was the one who false started but he was given a reprieve by the Kenyan officials at the Kasarani stadium in Nairobi. Not sure that was a fair decision, but there was no way he was going to be red flagged in front of the Nairobi crowd.

Was the reprieve for him acknowledged officially? It did seem quite likely it was him

Would love to see this guy head on over to USC, Houston, some SEC school, do think he would beneft from it. but ot skinny. Of course he'd have to ......no thanks....to the football coacshs. This is no ordinary Kenyan, he looks Nigerian.

There was a world class Kenyan sprinter way back when so he isn't the first. He was slender but not Kenyan skinny.

1962 World Rankings 100m
1..................................... Bob Hayes (US)
2........................ Harry Jerome (Canada)
3.................... Seraphino Antao (Kenya)******
4................................... Frank Budd (US)
5............................... Roger Sayers (US) once beat Hayes, yep....older bro
6.................................... Henry Carr (US)
7.................. Jocelyn Delecour (France)
8........... Peter Gamper (West Germany)
9.................................. Dave James (US)
10................. Tom Robinson (Bahamas)

Omanyala studies Chemistry at the university. He also false started and Kerley rode that one a long way, so the two weren't in equivalent positions in the re-start.

Yes,hes roided out of his brains.All those guys look like theyve walked straight out of a laboratory.

Tested many times, by whom? Better not be the ones who used to test Kirop etc.

Hard to believe but.......Kenyan

Why is it even hard to believe that he’s Kenyan? They seem to be innately advantaged in distance running (though even that isn’t established truth), but the default assumption would be that anyone who lifts and eats will build muscle, and while there might be individual variations in muscle building propensity, what reason is there to think that Kenyans as a group have lesser propensity?

I watch a lot of sports, so I have come to expect to see.....

Little bittie guys as jockies

Good old boys in NACAR

Black NFL cornerbacks and running backs (few exceptions)

I also expect to see this....

Yep, I don't expect to see 9.8 spinters and big musclemen out of Kenya, you do?

While have we never see a fast Samoan?

The Kenyan Koleman

Cool, was just genuinely curious if something about Kenyan physiologies was even believed to make it harder for them to gain big muscle. It would have been consistent with their seemingly innate distance running superiority, though not necessarily implied by it.

He has. Including the test that earned him a 14 month ban when he failed it.

I am 6-2 which isn't overly tall unless I am walking the streets of Manilla or Hong Kong. Just how it is.

Kenyans aren't big muscular people and we are all aware of that fact. So to see one looking like that cat is not to be expected or the norm.

There are different ethnicities in Kenya.

Examples: The Kalenjins are Nilothes, descendents of people from the upper Nile regions. They are naturally lean with small bone structures.

Other ethnic groups in Kenya: The Luas, Louos, Kikuyo, Gusii, Kisii, etc. are descendents of Bantus, who came from the Congo regions. These people are stockier and have bigger frames and bone structures. Omanyala is a Lua, as are most elite soccer, rugby and sprinters in Kenya.

Kalenjins typically have names beginning with "Kip" -Kipyego, Kiprotich, Kiptoo, Kiproch, and names like Koech, Cheruiyot etc.

.

I am here in Kenya now, and can often spot these differences. I usually look at the legs to get a quick impression. Kalenjin legs are usually impressively lean, especially down at the ankles where those elite kalenjins can put their fingers and connect them around their ankles. A Lua would rarely, if ever be able to do that.

If any of these basics are incorrect, I stand corrected, with thanks

Ferdinand Omanyala getting crowd-mobbed for selfies after winning the 100m.