Omanyala second in Atlanta as Simbine wins

A 9.90 seconds run from on-form Akani Simbine was enough to win the Atlanta City Games 100m race and give him the world lead.

The performance was three-hundredths of a second faster than the previous lead, set by American teenager Christian Miller in April.

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The race pitted the best African sprinters, Simbine and African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala, the latter finishing second in 10.00 ahead of American Kendal Williams who completed the podium in 10.05.

Omanyala got off the blocks first, but Simbine clawed back to beat him in the second half to set the world lead this year. The Kenyan star failed to dip under 10 seconds yet again, having clocked 10.03 in his last race when he finished fifth at the Kip Keino Classic.

In the first round, Simbine won his heat with a time of 10.10 seconds, while the Commonwealth Games champion Omanyala used 10.12 seconds to win his heat.

The duo’s rivalry, added to the incredible talent of Letsile Tebogo, who competed at the LA Grand Prix the same night, finishing second in 10.13 seconds, promises to light up the track at the Olympics. 

Another African, Nigeria's Udodi Onwuzurike clocked a Season's Best (SB) of 10.12s in only his first 100m race of the year.

Omanyala, who dethroned Simbine as the fastest man in Africa, knows both defeat and victory against the South African. The duo came up against each other early in 2023 when Simbine finished second ahead of third-placed Omanyala at the Rabat Diamond League before they met at the World Championships where the Kenyan reached the final, and managed seventh place, while Simbine failed to go past the semis. Omanyala also beat Simbine at the 2022 African Championships.