Kenya’s sprints sensation Ferdinand Omanyala has hinted at adopting a new tactical approach even as he eyes a historic Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Omanyala said he intends to reduce the number of races he will be running this season, adding that he will not be keen on scorching the Kenyan tracks as frequently as he did last season.
“When you get into the professional field, it’s always advisable to scale down activities because you’ll always want to travel the world,” Omanyala stated.
“It’s been a great three weeks because I’m getting to feel the soreness of muscles like never before,” Omanyala added.
The Commonwealth champion said he had already rolled out an effective training regimen that would see him turn around his fortunes from the preceding season.
“It’s been a great start to the season and the way I’m feeling right now is the way I usually feel by June so you can imagine what the feeling will be in the next six months.”
Omanyala was, nonetheless, categorical that he would be approaching the new season a lot more cautiously, hinting at the fact that he might have been too cocky in the preceding season.
“I’m excited about the new season but I’ve told myself this will be a season of faith, just moving into the next step, no planning, no overconfidence in doing stuff.
The African record holder lavished praise on his new tactician, saying his attractive credentials speak highly about his coaching capability.
The Kenyan track sensation turned to experienced strength and conditioning coach Geoffrey Kimani to steer him to new heights. Kimani takes over the reins from Omanyala’s longtime tutor and ally Duncan Ayiemba.
“My current coach is a lecturer of sprinting and I trust in his ability to steer me to greater heights. We are now doing preparations which take roughly five weeks. Just building on slowly. A lot of gym, a lot of track, a lot of endurance runs — that’s what we are doing right now,” Omanyala said.
I’ve now acquired a very professional team and we shall be doing very few races in Kenya. It will mostly be the Diamond League, where the competition is.
He said he would do his level best to continue asserting authority in the Diamond League after a splendid show last season, where he emerged second overall.
The Commonwealth Games and Africa 100m champion will kick off the 2024 season at the World Indoor Tour in February.
Omanyala’s next big task will be at the World Athletics Indoor Championships slated for March 1-3 in Glasgow, Scotland.
