Eugene Omalla


Eugene Omalla is a Ugandan-Dutch sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. He holds the African indoor record over 400 metres. From April 2024, he has represented the Netherlands. He won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay.

Early life

He has a twin brother, Jaime Omalla, who also competes in athletics. They have an Ugandan father, Timothy Omalla, and a Dutch mother, Wilma Omalla. They were born in Zoetermeer and lived in the Netherlands until they were seven years old, when they moved to Uganda. They both study at Kansas State University in the United States. Since 2024, they have both run under the Netherlands flag, having both previously represented Uganda.

Career

He ran an outdoors personal best of 46.06 seconds for the 400 metres in May 2023. He ran 45.18 seconds indoors to set a new African continental record for the 400 metres at the Sports Performance Center in Lubbock.
He qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, to run in the 400 metres and the 4 × 400 m relay, in a team that included his twin brother. He ran a time of 46.37 seconds in the individual event. They finished third in the relay final to win the bronze medal alongside Tavon Underwood and Kyle Gayle.
He ran for the Netherlands for the first time at the 2024 World Relays Championships in Nassau, Bahamas. He competed in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning gold with the Dutch team.
He was selected for the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn where he won the gold medal with the Dutch team in the men's 4 × 400 metres relay. On 22 April 2025, he was named in the Dutch team for the 2025 World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China in May 2025.
He competed at the 2025 World Athletics Relays in China in the Mixed 4 × 100 metres relay in May 2025.
He was selected for the Dutch team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan and ran on the opening day in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay, and again in the final as the Dutch team won the silver medal behind the United States. He then ran in the heats of the men's 400 metres without advancing to the semi-finals. He also ran at the championships in the men's 4 x 400 metres relay in both the preliminary round and the final.

Personal bests

Information from his World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.
EventTime in LocationDateRecordNotes
200 metres20.6414 July 2024La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
300 metres32.6828 April 2024Willemstad, Curaçao
400 metres45.043 August 2025Hengelo, Netherlands
400 metres short track45.18 23 February 2024Lubbock, Texas, United StatesOmalla was representing Uganda/Africa at the time.

Competition results

Information from his World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.
YearCompetitionLocationPositionEventTimeNotes
2024World Athletics RelaysNassau, Bahamas12th4 × 400 m relay3:03.02
2024Summer OlympicsParis, France1st4 × 400 m mixed3:07.43
2025European Athletics Indoor ChampionshipsApeldoorn, Netherlands1st4 × 400 m relay3:04.95