Ferdinand Omanyala Opens Up on Olympics Dream That Pushed Him Back to Ex-Coach

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala has admitted that a need to perform well heading into the Los Angeles Olympics and during the Games was behind his decision to reunite with his former coach.

Omanyala linked up with his former coach Duncan Ayiemba in late 2025, ending a two-year working relationship with coach Geoffrey Kimani.

It was a surprise decision given the way Omanyala and Ayiemba parted ways in late 2023 but the Commonwealth champions saw the need to return to the tried and tested.

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Ayiemba is the man credited with turning Omanyala into the star that he is, having honed his skills from an unknown sprinter into a man that regularly recorded sub-10 performances, set the African record and won Commonwealth gold during an eight-year stint before Kimani came into the picture.

The 30-year-old believes going back to a man who knows him too well is just what he needs at this point in his career as he looks for a strong comeback in 2026 after not dipping under 10 seconds in 2025 while he looks forward to the LA 2028 Olympics.

“As a pro athlete, you have to look at the things you are gaining, the mistakes made, what is working and what is not working,” Omanyala told SportPesa Blog.

“Based on all that, together with my management and everyone around me, we decided to go back to someone who we have been working with for eight years.

“The guy who made me win the Commonwealth Games and run the African record. So we went back to working with Dan for the next couple of years into 2028 LA Olympics,” he added.

Omanyala, who holds a personal best of 9.77 seconds, which is the African record, had a 2025 to forget as he did not manage a sub-10 performance while he exited the World Championships at the semi-final.

Those are some of the wrongs he is seeking to right this year and he has been excited by what Ayiemba is doing in training.

“Training is not easy in this camp,” he added. “We are putting in hours and hours of work. It does not matter what you are doing. You may have the best nutritionist, best psychologist but if the work is not being done, there is nothing that will come out of it.”

Omanyala will open his 2026 season at the Miramas World Athletics Indoor Tour in France, a place where he has enjoyed success before, as he clocked 6.51 seconds, a new record, to win the title in 2024.