By: Emily Hur
Last Friday, Ferdinand Omanyala, called Africa’s fastest man, participated in the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. He was supposed to arrive in Eugene on Monday, but his visa came on Thursday, barely giving him enough time to board his flight.
Aside from the Olympics, the World Athletics Championships is the biggest running competition in the world. It attracts athletes from across the globe, including Omanyala, one of the fastest sprinters of all time. He specializes in the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints and was set to compete in the 100-meter race on Friday, but he barely got there on time.
He told The Washington Post that the Kenyan team, including himself, went to get their visas on July 7th. Most of his teammates got their visas within a day, but Omanyala’s visa came after a week. No one told him the reason behind the delay, but he blamed the US Embassy in Nairobi.
According to the US Department of State, the COVID-19 pandemic has postponed the visa application process in various locations. The understaffed or closed embassies are struggling with the overwhelming number of visa requests. They are currently working to catch up on the delays and resume a normal schedule.
Kenyan sports officials claimed that Omanyala failed to provide all the necessary information, but Marcel Viljoen, Omanyala’s manager, said that Omanyala has been through to the embassy plenty of times and knows the proper process.
“It’s really disappointing, and I hope they do better next time,” Omanyala said, talking about the US. “I know they are hosting the Olympics in 2028, so I really hope they learn from this and do much better next time.”
On Thursday morning, nearly 24 hours before his race, Omanyala said, “I had already given up coming here.” When he finally received his visa, he took a five-hour flight from Nairobi to Doha. Then, he took a 14-hour flight to Seattle and a one-hour flight to Eugene. He immediately drove to Hayward Field three hours before his race.
Omanyala was at a disadvantage since his competitors were well rested and arrived days in advance. He managed to get third place in the first round with a time of 10.10 seconds.
Although his season best is 9.85 seconds, his time was enough to qualify for the semifinals on Saturday but not the finals.
After the meet, Omanyala flew directly from Eugene to Birmingham, England for another competition. “I hope this time,” he said, “I get there early.”
Residents in Africa frequently run into trouble with their US visas and sympathize with Omanyala’s situation. While athletes can fast-track their application process, visas can be delayed for up to six to eight months, Viljoen said. Some athletes are forced to pull out of events at the last second due to visa issues.
The problem extends past athletes. Dennis Kiogora, a founder of the Kenya Airlift Program that helps postgraduate students in Kenya travel to colleges in the US, said that most of the students in his program could not start school in September due to delayed visas. He said that only 20 out of 140 students have secured US visas since May.
Allan Ngaruiya, a student in the program, said that his sponsor stopped funding his studies because of the visa delays, and he will not be studying in the US in the spring.
“It is a huge crisis for us because we have so many bright students who have already been admitted to universities in the U.S.,” he said. “Most students who are supposed to report in September have [visa] appointment dates in 2023.”