By: Bella Liu

Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya, one of the world’s fastest sprinters, almost missed the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, because his U.S. visa was delayed. Omanyala was originally meant to arrive in Oregon five days before the race.

The runner applied for a visa with the rest of his team. The rest of the team received their visas the day after they applied, yet Omanyala’s visa never arrived. With one day left before the competition, Omanyala had given up hope—but his visa finally arrived. He boarded three flights in succession and got to the competition three hours before the race. Omanyala placed third in his first race and progressed to the semifinals, where he was unfortunately eliminated.

After getting eliminated, Omanyala questioned why his visa had arrived so late, accusing the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi for the holdup. An investigation was launched to find out why Omanyala’s visa had been delayed. Officials claimed that the reason behind the delay was that Omanyala didn’t divulge all the information that the application asked for. However, Omanyala said he does not believe this explanation since he is used to this process, and to his knowledge, he revealed all the information the visa application required.

Many people can relate to Omanyala’s situation because they, too, have struggled when trying to obtain U.S. visas within a certain time frame. Organizers at the World Athletics Championships have worked to improve visa application processes, but many athletes still have their applications declined. Some people even speculate that the United States might be purposefully declining these athletes’ visas because U.S. government officials are afraid that world-class foreign athletes may beat American competitors.