African 100 metres record holder Ferdinand Omanyala has blamed the wet conditions for his shock exit from his speciality race, saying the rain prevented him from producing his best as Kenya endured another disappointing day at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Tuesday.
The defending Commonwealth Games champion saw his title defense come to an abrupt end after finishing sixth in the second semi-final in 10.19 seconds at Scotstoun Stadium, missing out on a place in the final despite arriving in Scotland as one of the favourites.
"Let's just say the body refused to fire, so there's nothing much I can do about it," explained a dejected Omanyala. "I'm not a good person to run in the rain. It just happened, so we have to process that. You just need to go back and let it sink in."
Omanyala, who set the African record of 9.77 seconds at Kip Keino Classic in 2021, said the setback would not overshadow the progress African sprinting has made in recent years.
"I am happy with the growth of sprinting in Africa. It's a good thing, building the next generation. We started it, and I'm happy that it's coming up," he noted. "This season was a season of restoration. Commonwealth was one of the goals we were chasing, but we have missed it. Today didn't go well because the rain really affected me."
Kenya's sprint campaign ended moments earlier when Meshack Babu also failed to progress, coming eighth in the first semi-final in 10.39 seconds. Cameroon's Emmanuel Eseme won the heat in a national record 9.89 seconds before later bagging gold.
Kenya's disappointment extended to the men's 10,000m final, where Edwin Kurgat narrowly missed the podium after placing fourth in a season-best 27:50.98 minutes.
Kurgat looked set for a medal heading into the final lap before India's Gulveer Singh and Isle of Man's David Mullarkey surged past him in the last 200 metres. Australia's Ky Robinson won gold in 27:48.93, Singh took silver in 27:49.78, while Mullarkey claimed bronze in 27:50.28.
"The race was just okay, although we had a few unexpected setbacks because we never expected it would be this rainy," said Kurgat. "I was also stepped on and had to stop and wear my spikes, then struggled to get back into the race."
Daniel Ebenyo Simiu, who had led for much of the race, faded over the closing laps to finish sixth in a season-best 27:56.35.
