Sprinter Eugene Omalla (23) can now compete for the Netherlands: ‘Everything in my life has changed’

Thinking of the Netherlands, Eugene Omalla does not see wide rivers passing through endless lowlands. No, when he thinks back on his first seven years of life, clear childhood memories come to mind. “Oliebollen, cheese soufflés, gingerbread nuts. Snow. Making a snowman,” says Omalla laughing. “It was a very pleasant childhood and I still remember things like that very clearly.”

He gives this interview from the passenger seat, driving over a bumpy road in Curaçao, where he has joined the Dutch team for the first time. A major tournament awaits next weekend. The World Championship relay in the Bahamas, where the 4x 400 meter team defends the title and also wants to qualify for the Games in Paris. Omalla wants to be there too. Individually and as an asset to the promising 400 meter relay teams.

That is not a wild dream, because on paper the Netherlands will receive an enormous boost from his arrival. This indoor season he already ran very fast in the 400 meters. 45.18 meant a continental record for Africa, making him faster than Dutch record holder Liemarvin Bonevacia (45.48). The fact that he had never played for Uganda made the ‘transition’ to the Netherlands easier.

He initiated this together with his twin brother Jaime by contacting the Athletics Union in February last year. Technical director Vincent Kortbeek and national coach Laurent Meuwly responded enthusiastically. “I am grateful to them for that, because we did not have such fast times at that time.”

At boarding school in Kenya

More than a year later, confirmation came from World Athletics: Jaime and Eugene Omalla could now play for the Netherlands. In the run-up to the Games, Eugene, currently the fastest of the two and therefore immediately included in the relay selection, will train at Papendal and it is possible that he will also move permanently to the Netherlands. Adjusting will not be a problem. He is used to that, he says.

The son of a Ugandan father and Dutch mother, he was born in Zoetermeer. After seven years in the Netherlands, the family moved to Uganda, where they also lived in different places. This was followed by a period with his twin brother at a boarding school in Kenya. And he currently studies and lives for sport at Kansas State University in the United States.

“Together with my twin brother, I have always embraced moving as an adventure. I think you can put me anywhere in the world now. That’s why I feel like this sport suits me perfectly. I love traveling to new places and quickly creating a feeling of ‘home’ there.”

“Although I haven’t lived there most of my life, I have always held a special place in my heart for the Netherlands. When I watched the Games in Rio de Janeiro or the Games in Tokyo, I was always really following the Dutch athletes. And during the years that we lived in Africa, we returned to the Netherlands every year to visit family. To grandparents in Doornspijk (a village in Gelderland). Speaking the language could be better, but the feeling for the country has always been there and remains.”

Ugandan Athletics Association

In this interview he mainly speaks English, so that he can express himself strongly, but in the last minutes only Dutch is spoken, to show that he really can and wants to. There’s an accent to it, but he’s doing fine.

After his fast indoor time this year, the Ugandan athletics association suddenly wanted to secure his services, but by then the choice had already been made. The continuous grin on his face when talking about what is to come reveals his desire to compete in the orange uniform. Until he was seventeen, he mainly played rugby.

Then his father suggested he try the 100-meter sprint. That went well for him, and after a later excursion to the 400 meters it became clear where his greatest potential lay. “Those years of rugby made me strong. The fact that you know in advance that you will have to take tough blows and that you will not run away from them, that provides mental strength. I still carry that with me.”

Eugene Omalla is confident that twin brother Jaime will also be of value to the Dutch teams in the long term. “I always thought he was faster. But sometimes it takes one person longer than the other to get somewhere. Now that I am here with the Dutch team and he is not yet, we call two or three times every day.”

Training with absolute top athletes

Omalla can immediately be of value at a World Cup relay and there is a good chance that he will play at the Games in Paris this summer. That’s quite a bit, without tournament experience. “Everything in my life has changed. I was talking to one of my coaches at Kansas State recently and he said that in less than six months everything has turned upside down. It’s true, the training has worked and I have suddenly become much faster.”

“And now the Netherlands also gives me the opportunity to receive even more professional guidance, to train with absolute top athletes and to be part of a team that is already competing for medals at major tournaments. That’s crazy. It seems to be happening very quickly and that is true, but many people do not see that this is also the result of five years of hard work.”