World Athletics Championships: Ferdinand Omanyala races to compete after travel visa issues
Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala faces a race against time to compete at the World Athletics Championships after his American travel visa was approved.
The Kenyan, 26, who won the African 100m title last month, is due to race in the heats on Friday at the global event in Eugene, Oregon.
“I am not giving up on the World Championships yet,” told BBC Sport Africa.
“The information that I am out of the Championships is not true.”
Omanyala will fly from Kenya at 18:00 local time on Thursday, and is expected to arrive in Eugene less than three hours before the men’s 100m heats begin in the evening session on day one of the World Championships.
However, he will then need to clear United States customs, travel to the arena, pick up his accreditation and find time to warm up before bidding for a place in the semi-finals.
Omanyala is the third-quickest man in the world this season behind Americans Fred Kerley and Trayvon Bromell, and set the African 100m record of 9.77 seconds in September last year.
He told the BBC that intervention from authorities in Kenya had helped him secure the much-needed permission to travel.
Speaking on Wednesday, while still waiting for his visa, Omanyala said: “If I make it to the starting line, it will be fireworks. I thrive on setbacks.”
Athletics Kenya executive member Barnabas Korir said that several other of his country’s athletes had also been affected by visa delays, while Ethiopian and Nigerian athletes are also understood to have encountered issues.
World Athletics said it was working with the Oregon 22 organising committee and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to follow up on visa applications affecting some competitors, but said “the majority have been successfully resolved”.
“We continue to follow up with those outstanding visa issues,” a statement from the world governing body added.
“International travel in general has become more challenging due to the [Covid] pandemic and we are extremely grateful for the help and experience of the USOPC in helping to resolve issues that have come up in the last few weeks.”
The World Championships begin on Friday and last until 24 July.
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