Trayvon Bromell runs fastest 100m of 2021 as Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala breaks African record

Trayvon Bromell ran the fastest 100m of 2021, 9.76, at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi on Saturday (18 September).

The American won the final World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Series track and field athletics event of the year, in Nairobi, Kenya, beating home sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala by a hundredth of a second.

Omanyala's time of 9.77 saw him smash Akani Simbine's African record of 9.84 and become the eighth fastest man in history, with Bromell going joint-sixth after improving his personal best, set in Florida in June, by 0.01.

Bromell's time cements his place as the sixth fastest track sprinter over the distance with Omanyala becoming the eighth fastest man over 100m in history.

The fine end to the season comes after both Bromell and the Kenyan missed out on the men’s Olympic 100m final. The American was the hot favourite for individual gold going into Tokyo 2020.

Justin Gatlin: No confirmation on plans for 2022 season

Justin Gatlin, who missed out on qualification for Tokyo 2020 finished in third in Nairobi with a time of 10.03.

The Athens 2004 gold medallist is now 39, and it is not clear he will return to competition despite the draw of the 2022 World Athletics Championships taking place in the iconic and newly renovated Hayward Field on home soil.

"Let's wait and see what's in store for the new season," he told AFP when asked if he planned to hang up his spikes.

Faith Kipyegon claims another 1500m victory

Two-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon continued her fine form in the women’s 1500m in front of a small but vocal Kenyan home crowd. She won with a time of 4:02.40.

Olympic silver medallist Christine Mboma held off Ivorian Marie Josee Ta Lou to complete an astounding season in the women’s 200m.

The 18-year-old from Namibia won in 22.39s to make it 11 wins over the distance this year. having switched to a shorter distance after World Athletics rules concerning her naturally occurring testosterone levels meant she could not compete in her preferred 400m.

"I am not perfect yet in the 200m," said Mboma to AFP. "I am still working at it and hope to be good in the next year."

Fred Kerley claimed victory in the men’s 200m with a time of 19.76. It was the fastest ever 200m on Kenyan soil and the fifth consecutive time in 2021 that the American has broken the 20-second barrier.

Kerley won silver in the 100m at Tokyo 2020 behind Marcell Jacobs.

Morocco's Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali took another win in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, crossing the line in 8:21.20.

In the field, ex-heptathlete Katrine Koch Jacobsen continued her remarkable progression in the hammer. The Dane won with a new national record throw of 71.09m and has added nearly 10m to her personal best during the course of this season.