Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala has revealed that American streamer IShowSpeed did not directly contact him over a proposed race during the content creator’s visit to Kenya earlier this year, saying he instead used the moment as a branding opportunity.
Speaking in an interview with Betty Kyallo on This Friday with Betty on TV47 on Friday, 6 March 2026, Omanyala explained that the online conversation about a potential race was deliberately created to generate engagement around his brand.
“Funny thing is that guy never reached out to me, so this is where the branding aspect comes in. I heard that he is coming and I got it from a friend in South Africa and he told me. I was like, yeah okay let him come, but then I slept about it and I was like I can use this opportunity for people to talk about me, and I am that guy who loves when people talk about me,” Omanyala said.
He revealed that he and his team initiated the social media discussion by sharing an image suggesting a race between the two.
“We created an image of me racing him and told the guy to post, then I reposted and said I’ll whip this guy on the first step,” he said.
Asked by Kyallo whether he was actually behind the image that sparked the online conversation, Omanyala acknowledged that the move was intentional.
“I used it as a way of getting people talking about this and just used this opportunity to get numbers and you understand that’s what brand is all about,” he said.
The sprinter further explained that the discussion was later expanded by introducing a financial aspect to the challenge.
“After that went out I was like, let me look for something else and you know what social media likes. They love luxury lives, they love money, so I threw in the aspect of money and I was like get some guys, let’s have a conversation. I was like if that guy wants to race me he has to put in the money,” Omanyala added.
According to the Commonwealth games champion, discussions around the possible race lasted for several weeks but the event never materialised after certain contractual terms were not met.
“We were on that for like a month and then towards the last two days before he came there was a contract that was put up. I was like okay, so there was that someone we had some contract, but there were terms that we had that they didn’t fulfil and that’s how it went down. But the guy(IshowSpeed) never reached out to me,” he said.
Omanyala said the experience highlighted the need for athletes to expand their reach by tapping into wider digital audiences.
“So I am just saying this because our audiences as athletes need to tap into other people’s audiences as well. When you get an opportunity to tap into other people’s audience, use it,” he stated.
Popular American streamer IShowSpeed (Darren Jason Watkins Jr) visited Kenya from January 10 to January 13, 2026 as part of his “Speed Does Africa” tour.
The visit generated significant global online attention and also helped promote Kenya’s tourism and digital visibility.
