African record holder, Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya, on Saturday clocked 9.94 seconds to win the men’s 100m race at the 2026 Xiamen Diamond League Meeting in China.
Competing in the second race of the 2026 Diamond League season, Omanyala won ahead of South Africa’s Gift Leotlela, who won the season-opening Shanghai Diamond League meeting on May 16.
Leotlela finished second in 10.00, followed by two-time world 100m bronze medallist Trayvon Bromell from America, who timed 10.03 for third place.
Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala celebrates after crossing the line to win the men’s 100m race at the Xiamen Diamond League Meeting in China on May 23, 2026.
Photo credit: Reuters
On May 16, Leotlela edged Commonwealth Games champion Omanyala and Kenny Bednarek of USA in Shanghai Diamond League to win in 9.97. Omanyala was second in 9.98.
It wasn’t a good outing for world 3,000m steeplechase champion Faith Cherotich, world 1,500m silver medallist, Dorcas Ewoi and Edwin Kurgat, all from Kenya.
Cherotich, the Paris Olympics bronze medallist who finished second in Shanghai Diamond League on May 16, finished third in 8:52.53 after losing the battle again to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games champion, Peruth Chemutai from Uganda.
New meet record
Chemutai set a new meet record and world lead of 8:51.06, erasing the previous record of 8:55.40 set by the current world record holder, Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya in 2024. Chemutai won in Shanghai.
Reigning Olympic Games champion, Wilfred Yavi of Bahrain, timed 8:51.54 for second place as the duo all dipped inside the previous meet record.
Ewoi clocked season best time of 3:58.13 for fourth place as Australia’s Abbey Caldwell won the women’s 1,500m race in 3:57.26, turning the tables on Shanghai Diamond League winner Haylom Burke from Ethiopia.
World lead time
Ewoi had finished fifth in Shanghai in 3:57.74 2 where Birke won in 3:55.56 as Caldwell settled for third place in 3:56.12.
Kurgat was placed fifth in men’s 5,000m in 13:01.47 in a race where Ethiopia’s Addisu Yihune won in a meet record and world lead time of 12:57.32.
Yihune erased the previous meet record of 12:58.96 set by his fellow countryman Girma Lamecha in 2024.
