Africa's fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala is set for a hefty payday after he continued his resurgence this season with a win at the Xiamen Diamond League on Saturday, April 23.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Omanyala proved too for some big names, including America's Trayvon Brommel as he clocked a blistering 9.94 seconds at the Egret Stadium to win the race and register yet another sub-10-second performance.

The victory also saw the African record holder avenge last weekend’s defeat to South Africa’s Gift Leotlela during the opening leg of the Diamond League in Shanghai, where Omanyala finished second with a time of 9.98 seconds.

With his win, Omanyala will effectively pocket at least Ksh2.5 million (USD) 20,000), which is the set prize money for winners during the event.

📌 What You Need to Know

According to the Diamond League prize structure, each of the 14 regular meetings has a prize purse of $500,000 (approximately Ksh64 million). However, organisers are allowed to select premium events known as Diamond+ Disciplines, which attract higher payouts.

South Africa’s Gift Leotlela, who settled for second place after clocking 10.00 seconds, will receive $6,000 (approximately KSh778,000), while American sprinter Trayvon Bromell will walk away with  $4,000 (around KSh518,000) for finishing third in 10.03 seconds.

Notably, Omanyala’s Ksh2.5 million (USD20,000) payout is not the biggest possible prize in the Diamond League despite the Kenyan emerging in first place.

The USD20,000 payout applies to wins in the normal stage (series meetings) of Diamond+ races and rewards athletes for winning individual meets during the season, but it is not the final and highest payout in the competition structure.

The bigger money comes at the Diamond League Final, which is the season-ending championship where the best performers across the year qualify. In that final, the winner of a Diamond+ discipline earns $30,000 (about Ksh3.9 million) , which is significantly higher than the $20,000 paid at regular meetings.

Regardless, the African sprint star's latest triumph solidified his remarkable resurgence in the 100m dash, as he has now recorded five consecutive sub-10-second races this season after nearly two years without breaking the mark.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke