‘Can’t Be Paid With Streams and Likes’ - Ferdinand Omanyala Doubles Down on Ksh6.4 Million Demand for IShowSpeed Race

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala has once again defended his decision not to run against American streamer IShowSpeed unless he was paid.

When Speed visited Kenya over a week ago, Omanyala was asked if he would be open to running against him, like Noah Lyles and Lestile Tebogo previously, but he insisted he could only do that if $50,000 (Ksh6.4 million) was on the table.

That saw him get criticised by fans online with some feeling he missed an opportunity to further boost his brand given Speed’s huge global following but the sprinter has maintained that he deserved compensation to feature in such an exhibition race, given the risks involved.

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Omanyala also feels those criticising him do not know what he brings as a pro athlete as well as the fact that he also has a brand to protect and sponsors to represent.

“Once you get to a level where you are doing your job, nobody can come to your office and start doing pranks on you,” Omanyala said while addressing students at Crawford International School.

“You are doing what you do because you earned that place. I have built the Omanyala brand to become whatever it is right now. And it is so big that any appearance, anything that I come in, when I get into articles in news, everybody wants to read about Omanyala.

“So imagine me putting in seven hours a day, three-four months before a season [starts] and 44 weeks in a year for someone to come and pay me with streams and likes. Is it fair?”

With the gathering seeming to disagree with his take, Omanyala let them know the sacrifices and work he puts in before his events, as well as what is at stake whenever he goes out to compete.

“For you, it is entertainment, but for me, it is an input. I need to prepare for like an hour, I need to stop my training for like three days [to race Speed] and then what happens when I go and race and God forbid, I get an injury?” he posed.

“And then I have [upcoming] races in like two weeks. How I’m I going to explain to my sponsors or my management that I was racing IShowSpeed and I got an injury?

“To make it worse, we have scheduled competitions from this week. How are we going to cancel those races? They have already paid your flights and given you appearance fees. How are you going to call them and tell them I have an injury because I was doing a promotional race?” the Africa record holder further asked.

“When you get to a place where you know your value, nobody can ever joke with you because you know what you bring to the table.”

Omanyala, whose 9.77 seconds recorded in September 2021, makes him the Africa 100m record holder, is also the Commonwealth champion and is looking forward to an improved 2026 season after failing to dip under 10 seconds last year.