Ferdinand Omanyala will have a chance to contest his first-ever men’s 100m final after he finished as one of the best next non-automatic qualifiers in the semifinals.
Omanyala finished third in the first heat with a time of 10.01 seconds and was forced to wait for the other heats to know if he had made it to the final. Noah Lyles won the heat with a season-best 9.97 seconds. Japan’s Abdul Hakim beat Omanyala to the tape to qualify as one of the first two automatic qualifiers.
Omanyala made it through after the reigning world champion Fred Kerley finished third in his heat with a time of 10.02 seconds which was slower than Omanyala’s.
Kerley’s elimination will send shockwaves across the sprinting world after much focus had been given to his potential showdown against his compatriot Lyles in the final.
The other major casualty was Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs, who finished a disappointing 5th in heat one.
The other African hopeful, South Africa’s Akani Simbine, was disqualified in heat two for a false start.
Full list for men’s 100m final
Noah Lyles(America)
Christian Coleman(America)
Oblique Seville(Jamaica)
Zharnel Hughes(Great Britain)
Rylem Forde(Jamaica)
Abdul Hakim(Japan)
Letsile Tebogo(Botswana)
Ferdinand Omanyala(Kenya)
