Ferdinand Omanyala joined Akani Simbine and Letsile Tebogo into the semi-final of the 100m at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala made it to the semi-final of the 100m at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday.

Omanyala, who has not enjoyed a great season due to poor form and injuries, had to work extremely hard to make it to the semi-final when he finished third in Heat 7 to seal the last automatic qualification slot.

The Kenyan got off the blocks well but could not match the pace of South African Akani Simbine, who won the heat in 10.02 seconds, followed by Ghanaian Abdul-Rashid Saminu (10.09) with Omanyala completing the podium in 10.12 seconds.

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It was not the greatest run for Omanyala, who will need to improve greatly to have a chance of making it to the final, given the high level of competition witnessed in the heats.

The two African greats joined Olympics 200m champion Letsile Tebogo into the semi-final as the Botswana sprinter kept alive his hopes of winning a double when he eased into the semi-final.

Running in Heat 5, Tebogo got off the blocks slow but had enough to catch up with his competitors and overtake them before easing off once he realised that he had secured first place.

Tebogo won the heat in 10.07 seconds with former Olympics 200m champion Andre De Grasse in second place, the Canadian clocking 10.16 seconds, while American Courtney Lindsey stopped the clock at 10.19 seconds for third place for an automatic place in the semis.

Meanwhile, former Olympics champion Marcell Jacobs made it to the semi-final after finishing third in Heat 6 that was won by Nigerian Israel Okon with Britain’s Zharnel Hughes in second place.

Okon clocked 10.04 seconds for first place with Hughes taking second in 10.06 as Jacobs, who has battled injuries in recent years, clocking a season’s best 10.20 seconds, for the final automatic slot to the semi-final.