)
Olympics 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi was honoured for his impressive 2024 campaign by his home county of Trans Nzoia, having brought athletics glory to Kenya and his hometown.
Olympics 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi was celebrated in his home county of Trans Nzoia for his remarkable success in the 2024 season.
Wanyonyi, who won gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics as well as the Diamond League title, had a homecoming party in his honour organised by area governor George Natembeya who lauded him for setting a great example to youth in the county.
“Today, we celebrated our very own Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the pride of Trans Nzoia and Kenya, for his incredible gold medal win at the 2024 Summer Olympics. You’ve shown the world that greatness begins at home. Hongera, shujaa wetu,” Natembeya said via a social media post on Monday.
)
06:28 - 31.12.2024
'This season, I wasn't supposed to run' - Timothy Cheruiyot reflects on troubling 2024 campaign
Timothy Cheruiyot overcame injury setbacks in 2024 to unexpectedly compete in multiple races, including the Paris Olympics.
The 20-year-old’s story from humble beginnings to a global superstar was also shared, perhaps as an inspiration to others. Wanyonyi started out as a herdsboy and also did menial jobs to make ends meet before his athletics talent was later discovered.
He had dropped out of school due to lack of school fees before a teacher offered him a second chance, admitting him to school despite his advanced age, having been impressed by his athletics prowess.
“Emmanuel Wanyonyi was a herdsboy here and there was a time I met him at the school gate wearing torn shorts and I told him you need to go to school but his age had advanced. Some doubted if he could hack it,” area Chief told the gathering.
“Then a teacher took a chance on him and when he came, he became focused, determined and had persistence.”
In an interview with NTV in September, Wanyonyi admitted how going back to school had him ridiculed by his peers who thought he was wasting his time but would prove them wrong through his success in running, having won a number of school championships, before former 800m world champion Janeth Jepkosgei spotted him and offered him a chance.
Since then, he has gone on to claim a silver medal at the 2023 World Championships but 2024 is when he came of age, winning Olympics gold, before clocking 1:41:11 in Lausanne, the joint second-fastest time in history, after which he clinched the Diamond League title in Brussels.
Heading into 2025 when the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan is the main focus, there is great optimism that a first world title could be in the offing for the 20-year-old.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)