African 100m record holder Ferdinand Omurwa Omanyala will be in action on Sunday, September 8, 2024 in the Boris Hanzekovic Memorial in Croatia.
Omanyala will be seeking to bounce back from the disappointing performance he registered in the Rome Diamond League one week ago.
The 28-year-old clocked 10.08 seconds to finish seventh in the race which Botswana’s sensation Letsile Tebogo won in 9.86 seconds.
Omanyala loses to Tebogo
Omanyala, who has not qualified for this season’s Diamond League final set to be held in Brussels, Belgium between September 13 and September 14, is among the favourites to triumph in Sunday’s race due to the quality of the assembled field.
He will go head to head with the likes of the United States’ trio of Kyree King, Courtney Lindsey and Brandon Hicklin.
Besides Omanyala, several other Kenyans including Nelly Chepchirchir and Isaac Kimeli will feature in the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event.
ALSO READ: Evans Chebet vs Sisay Lemma: Intense battle to look forward to in Sunday’s Great North Run
Kimeli will line up in the 2000m category alongside his fellow countryman Daniel Munguti. Canada’s Charles Philibert-Thiboutot and Cooper Teare of the United States, are also expected to be in contention.
Chepchirchir, who has had an impressive season, will compete in the 800m race against talented runners such as Jamaica’s Natoya Goule-Toppin and United States’ Sage Hurta-Klecker.
Elsewhere, the Ethiopian contingent comprising Habitam Alemu, Hirut Meshesha and Axumawit Embaye headline the 1500m race.
They are expected to battle it out for the top prize with a strong field that has Italy’s Sintayehu Vissa, who trains in the United States with Hellen Obiri, and America’s Elise Cranny.
ALSO READ: SportPesa launch revolutionary Tujiamini Initiative to nurture talent
Tujiamini is an initiative that seeks to provide a platform, including up to 30M shillings in funding, for individual, team sports and various talent, in a year-long campaign that will go around the country in a move aimed at evoking the sense of pride in Kenya’s sports and talent ecosystem.
Applicants are urged to submit their applications through www.tujiamini.co.ke