African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala has praised the government for the support it gives to athletes.
The sprinter who was speaking at the Pulse Influencer Awards this past Sunday also gave hope to aspiring athletes who would want to join the industry in the future.
"You know of course if you are out there and anytime you think of coming back home and you think about coming back home victorious you'll get a lot of money, you'll get to meet the president and all that, that a lot of motivation enough that really makes you want to work hard and anytime you lose you'll feel so bad because you'll not get any of that.
Of course, they can't give it to everybody because we are so many athletes in this country but we have to push ourselves hard and that makes us push ourselves hard knowing at the back of our mind there's appreciation enough that will make us get a living out of this sport."
When asked what he would tell to a young aspiring Omanyalla, he openly stated the hard work he has so as to make him the man he is today.
"Life is not easy people see us on TV and think we got there by luck but we don't get there by luck we've worked hard to get there, and we've had the commitment, consistency and patience to get there anyone who wants to get in that line should know it's not an easy task, it's a hustle and very big hustle
Now that everybody wants to sprint it will be very hard for you to make it out of sprints so you have to be very very dedicated and you'll have to do it with all your heart, I hope they get all the support they want."
Omanyala urged the parents and guardians to support their children in what they do, supporting them would build their general performance at what they are doing.
To the guardians and parents because that is where the hurdle is they should support their talented kids because it starts with them. If you find a parent anakazia mtoi then hiyo really affects the mental aspects and performance of the child.
The athlete finished by saying that the next generation will dig into sports to find employment they won't focus much on the degree since there are very many jobless people in the country.
"The next generation tunaenda kuwa employed by sports, jobs zimedie... thousands of people are graduating from universities if your child, son or daughter has talent nurture that talent. We'll try our best to bring the structures to develop sprints into this country and we just hope when we start we get all the corporate support we want."
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