Kenyan athlete Emmanuel Wanyonyi clinched gold in the men’s 800 meters final on the penultimate evening of the Olympics this Saturday, setting a personal best time of 1:41.19. Wanyonyi edged out Canada’s world champion Marco Arop, who took silver, while Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati secured the bronze.
After the race, Wanyonyi revealed that he was motivated by former 800 meters champion David Rudisha, who had encouraged him to win the gold medal. “This race came with a lot of pressure for me at this Olympics,” Wanyonyi shared with journalists. “I spoke with Rudisha yesterday, and he told me, ‘You’re supposed to defend this title because Kenyans won it last time in Tokyo.’ So, I felt the pressure, but I thank God that I was able to achieve it.”
The final night of athletics at Paris 2024 also saw victories from other top athletes. Masai Russell dominated the women’s 100m hurdles, finishing ahead of Cyrene Samba-Mayela and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. In the men’s 5000m, Jakob Ingebrigtsen secured his second Olympic gold, outrunning Ronald Kwemoi and Grant Fisher.
Wanyonyi, who finished second at the World Championships in Budapest last year, led the 800 meters race almost from start to finish. He narrowly held off a strong comeback from Marco Arop, winning by just one-hundredth of a second (1:41.19 versus 1:41.20). Djamel Sedjati followed closely, clocking in at 1:41.50 to take the bronze.
This victory marks the fifth consecutive time a Kenyan has won the 800 meters at the Olympics, continuing a legacy established by Wilfred Bungei in 2008, David Rudisha in 2012 and 2016, and Emmanuel Korir in 2021.