Ferdinand Omanyala, the fastest African sprinter, almost missed the World Athletics Championship in Eugene, Oregon after a visa debacle. Without his visa, Omanyala would not have been allowed to travel from Kenya to the U.S. Other South African and Kenyan athletes experienced similar visa delays and denials.
Omanyala applied for his visa with fellow Kenyan athletes. Most of them received their visa the day after they applied, leaving them plenty of time to arrive in Eugene. But Omanyala received his just a day before the race. He rushed to get on a plane to Eugene. Luckily, he was able to arrive at Heyward Field a couple hours before his first 100-meter race.
In the first round, he ran the 100 meters in 10.10 seconds, which put him third in his heat and qualified him for the semifinals. But this was not his best performance, compared to his season best of 9.85 seconds and personal best of 9.77 seconds. In the semifinals, Omanyala came in fifth in his heat, and did not qualify for the finals.
Athletics Kenya says Omanyala did not fill out all the information needed to complete the visa, which caused the delay. However, Omanyala blamed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi for his visa troubles.
“It’s really disappointing, and I hope they do better next time,” he said.
Omanyala’s manager, Marcel Viljoem, was dubious that Omanyala did not fill out all the information.
“Ferdinand is accustomed to the process and definitely knows the implications of leaving out information. So I doubt it,” Viljoem wrote.
Other athletes, especially from South Africa and Kenya, also faced visa holdups. Kenyan long-distance runner Sheila Chepkirui couldn’t attend the World Athletics Championship because of visa issues. Similarly, South African sprinter Gift Leotlela was stranded in Italy because of visa delays.
According to USA Today, there were 374 cases of visa issues, of which seventy-three percent have been resolved.
When marathon runner Chris Thompson was denied the chance to run in the Championship marathon due to visa delays, he said, “It should never have got to this point and It’s hard to believe it has.”
“Visa challenges are faced by all Kenyans and people daily, in this case I was no different.” said Omanyala. “I will also be competing in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on July 28th. Looking forward to making all Kenyans proud,”
Sources:
https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/sports/athletics/kenya-rejects-blame-over-omanyala-us-visa-debacle-3885614
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658069023865x991502925473258400/Ferdinand%20Omanyala%20visa%20delay_%20Outcry%20after%20top%20Kenyan%20sprinter%20nearly%20misses%20championships%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf
Omanyala applied for his visa with fellow Kenyan athletes. Most of them received their visa the day after they applied, leaving them plenty of time to arrive in Eugene. But Omanyala received his just a day before the race. He rushed to get on a plane to Eugene. Luckily, he was able to arrive at Heyward Field a couple hours before his first 100-meter race.
In the first round, he ran the 100 meters in 10.10 seconds, which put him third in his heat and qualified him for the semifinals. But this was not his best performance, compared to his season best of 9.85 seconds and personal best of 9.77 seconds. In the semifinals, Omanyala came in fifth in his heat, and did not qualify for the finals.
Athletics Kenya says Omanyala did not fill out all the information needed to complete the visa, which caused the delay. However, Omanyala blamed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi for his visa troubles.
“It’s really disappointing, and I hope they do better next time,” he said.
Omanyala’s manager, Marcel Viljoem, was dubious that Omanyala did not fill out all the information.
“Ferdinand is accustomed to the process and definitely knows the implications of leaving out information. So I doubt it,” Viljoem wrote.
Other athletes, especially from South Africa and Kenya, also faced visa holdups. Kenyan long-distance runner Sheila Chepkirui couldn’t attend the World Athletics Championship because of visa issues. Similarly, South African sprinter Gift Leotlela was stranded in Italy because of visa delays.
According to USA Today, there were 374 cases of visa issues, of which seventy-three percent have been resolved.
When marathon runner Chris Thompson was denied the chance to run in the Championship marathon due to visa delays, he said, “It should never have got to this point and It’s hard to believe it has.”
“Visa challenges are faced by all Kenyans and people daily, in this case I was no different.” said Omanyala. “I will also be competing in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on July 28th. Looking forward to making all Kenyans proud,”
Sources:
https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/sports/athletics/kenya-rejects-blame-over-omanyala-us-visa-debacle-3885614
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658069023865x991502925473258400/Ferdinand%20Omanyala%20visa%20delay_%20Outcry%20after%20top%20Kenyan%20sprinter%20nearly%20misses%20championships%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf
