Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala flew out of the country to Oregon, USA on Thursday evening for the World Athletics Championships. This was despite initial reports that he would miss the races due to delays in the necessary visas. However, the African star of athletics won it at the last minute, so she has less than 24 hours to get to the championship venue.
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Omanyala flew out of his native Kenya on Thursday evening, his spokesman said. The journey itself takes up to 18 hours. Time is thus playing against him.
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He has less than three hours to go through passport control in the USA, get to the race site, collect his accreditations and warm up. informs British BBC.
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If successful, he should start the 100m warm-up around 9am local time. “As soon as I’m there, everything will be forgotten. My body has to run, no matter how tired it is. Life gives us challenges, but you have to face them head on,” he commented on the situation.
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He does not blame anyone for a possible mistake regarding visas. “Visa challenges are faced by all Kenyans and others on a daily basis. And in this case it was no different,” he wrote on Twitter.
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His spokesman attributed the delayed visa issuance to a possible backlog of applications due to covid-19-related closures, stated Al Jazeera server.
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At the same time, the Kenyan athlete is not the only one who faced difficulties with visas to the USA in connection with the upcoming championship. The AP agency counted 375 such cases. Up to 10 South African athletes are stuck in Italy due to visa problems, including Jamaican runner Gregory Prince and Olympic runner Chad Wright. Athletes from India and other Kenyans also received visas with delay.
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Reacting to the cases, World Athletics spokeswoman Nicole Jeffery said the complexities surrounding visas were related to the challenges of the post-pandemic era.
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Whether 26-year-old Ferdinand Omanyal will be able to “catch up” to the starting line in time is still a question. However, both the BBC and Al-Jazeera mention that an individual warm-up round is being considered as a possible option.
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Omanyala figures in this year’s ranking as the third fastest man in the world, having set a new African record for 100 meters last September – 9.77 seconds. Only Americans Fred Kerley and Trayvon Bromell are faster.
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