Paris Olympics: Emmanuel Wanyonyi begins daunting task of tightening Kenya’s 16-year grip on 800m title

Paris Olympics: Emmanuel Wanyonyi begins daunting task of tightening Kenya’s 16-year grip on 800m title

Joel Omotto 09:30 - 07.08.2024

Emmanuel Wanyonyi will be the man in the spotlight when the men’s 800m starts on Wednesday as compatriots Koitatoi Kidali and Wycliffe Kinyamal also eye semi-final tickets.

World silver medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi is the man Kenyans are counting on to retain the men’s 800m Olympics title that the country has won since 2008.

Wilfred Bungei ended Kenya’s 16-year wait for an Olympics gold in 800m when he won the title in Beijing in 2008 and since then, David Rudisha (London 2012 and Rio 2016) and Emmanuel Korir (Tokyo 2020) have ensured the crown returns home.

Rudisha and Korir are not in Paris over various reasons and pressure is now on the young shoulders of Wanyonyi to retain the crown.

The 20-year-old will take to the track in the 800m heats on Wednesday morning (11.55am Kenyan time) and is supported by Koitatoi Kidali and double Commonwealth champion Wycliffe Kinyamal.

The race has some of the fastest runners this year with Algerian Djamel Sedjati, who has the fastest time of the year, and the third fastest in history, as well as world champion Marco Arop and homeboy Gabriel Tual posing a great challenge.

Sedjati beat Wanyonyi in Paris last month when the duo ran the third and fourth fastest times in history but the youngster has shown that he can go toe-to-toe with the very best hence the great hope that he can claim a gold medal.

Before the race in Paris, the 20-year-old had been the holder of the world’s fastest time, after running 1:41.70 in Nairobi in June, and it gives Kenyans great confidence.

Wanyonyi will be in the third heat after Kidali, who will be in the second, before Kinyamal hits the track later in the fifth of the six heats.