Nairobi — African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala’s hope of competing against Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs has gone up in smoke again, after the Italian pulled out of this Friday’s 100m at the Diamond League meeting in Florence as he continues to recover from a back injury.
The Italian athletics federation announced that Jacobs is out of the meet in the Italian city, just over a week after pulling out of the Rabat Diamond League meeting.
“The recovery process for Jacobs, after the problem that emerged in recent days, does not appear to be fully completed yet,” the federation said in a statement on Tuesday.
Kelley had also last year pulled out of the Kip Keino Classic after reportedly suffering from food poisoning on the night before the duel with Omanyala.
Jacobs missed much of the 2022 season and withdrew from the world championships in the US after the 100m heats.
Meanwhile, the Kenyan Commonwealth champion Omanyala says he looks forward to bounce back in Florence after losing his first race of the season, finishing third in Rabat in a race won by world champion Fred Kerley.
He posted a defiant message on Twitter, as he prepares for his next two Diamond League races in Florence and Paris.
“Confidence looks like arrogance to people who don’t believe in themselves. We shall rise again. Thank you Rabat for the memories, see u Florence,” Omanyala posted on Twitter.