Omanyala stops clock at 9.85 seconds to win Kip Keino Classic 100m

African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala clocked 9.85 to win a hotly contested 100m race at Kip Keino Classic 3rd edition on Saturday evening.

After a series of eye catching performances including the world's leading time over the distance the Kenyan finally got his chance to rectify what went wrong in last years edition.

Before that he endured a nervous wait for a false start review which fortunately returned a green card much to the relief of the whole stadium which included head of state President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The 26-year burst into lighting speed after with this time round getting it right in the take off, something that he is on record saying was his weakest link.

He tagged along with 200m Olympic silver medalist Fred Kerley of the United States of America but the home boy bossed it to the finish line to upgrade the silver he bagged last year.

Omanyala, after the lap of honour was ushered to the VVIP area where he was congratulated by a visibly elated Kenyatta, First Lady Margaret Kenyatt,ODM leader Rails Odinga, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed and other dignitaries.

When the dust settled, the national champion who was attacking offers for a selfie from all quarters walked to the mixed zone and expressed his happiness with how he fared out.

"I know I can ran fast and when I said I was taking this I meant it. It was a good race and I am happy. The false start was a bit of a distraction but after all was settled we had to run.

Last season my pace off the blocks was wanting and I have been working on it and I can say I am impressed.

I have race two Olympics silver medalist United Fred Kerley (100m) and Kenny Bednarek (200m) and this shows I am heading to the top, which has been my target in this journey," he said.

The race just as expected lived up to the billing despite the absence of Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs who was taken ill on the eve of the event.

Among those who anxiously waited and watched the race metres off the finish line was three-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica who had served her opponents with sprinting lessons in the ladies category.

Pryce ran a world lead of 10.67 seconds sending every other fan at the 60, 000 seater facility on their feet to celebrate her sprinting prowess.

She acknowledged the positive reception from the crowd and predicted that she would have a stellar season ahead.

"This was such an amazing race. Hearing my name and the reception from the fans was amazing. I managed the fastest time in the world this year on my first 100m race of the season and it is exciting. It indicates better things to come in a very busy season," she said.