Fresh from breaking the 60 metres record, Kenyan indoor record sprint sensation Ferdinand Omanyala faces Olympic 100m champion, Marcell Jacobs of Italy, at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin France today.
Omanyala clocked 6.60 seconds to win the men’s 60m dash at the Metz Monselle meeting in France last week.
It was the second time Omanyala was breaking the record in a span of seven days. The first was the World Indoor Tour's Miramas meeting, where he set a time of 6.63 seconds on his debut in the 60 metres.
He broke the 17-year-old national record in the heats, clocking 6.65 before dipping it further to 6.63 in the final, which he won.
Jacobs, another winner in Lievin last year, heads to the French town off the back of 60m victories in Berlin (6.51) and Lodz (6.49). But USA’s world indoor bronze medallist Ronnie Baker has the fastest PB of the field at 6.40 – 0.07 quicker than Jacobs’ best.
Kenyan duo of Nicholas Kimeli and Jacob Krop will face a stern test in the 3000m against a formidable Ethiopian contingent. Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega and silver medallist Lamecha Girma are the frontrunners alongside Getnet Wale.
Others to look out for include Spain’s Mohamed Katir, who was a revelation on the international circuit last year, setting Spanish records for 1500m (3:28.76), 3000m (7:27.64), and 5000m (12:50.79).
He should feature among the leaders in Lievin even if he’s slightly off the leading pace. He has a chance to break the European record of 7:30.82 set last week by compatriot Adel Mechaal.
Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen will once again get his season underway in Lievin, just as he did last year.
He clocked a European indoor record of 3:31.80 on that occasion, then went on to enjoy the greatest season of his burgeoning career which culminated with Olympic 1500m gold in a European record of 3:28.32.
He won’t necessarily have it all his own way in Lievin, though. Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera, the world indoor champion and world indoor record-holder for the distance, will also be on the start line.
Tefera won here in 2019, then went on to break the world indoor record just six days later with 3:31.04. He returned to Lievin in 2020 and won again.
