Since David Rudisha broke the 800m world record with 1:40.91 at the 2012 Olympics, no other runner has been under 1:42.00.
Until today.
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In Kenya’s Olympic selections, things went really fast for the great talent Emmanuel Wanyonyi.
The 19-year-old clocked 1:41.70 and thus goes up as the third fastest runner ever. The World Cup silver medalist from last year won the race by almost a second and thus rises to world number one in the distance this year.
Wanyonyi’s previous personal best in the 800 meters was 1:42.80.
Was about to miss the final
The 19-year-old is thus Olympic-ready in the distance, but it was sweaty.
During the semi-finals yesterday, Wanyonyi fell and looked set to miss out on promotion. However, the competition management chose to give him a free place for the final and he really took advantage of it.
– I tripped yesterday and I fell and as you can see my leg is swollen… I didn’t want to repeat the same mistake. I learned to just run my race and I told myself that everything happens for a reason, he says after the final win.
In addition to Rudisha, Wanyonyi also has former Danish great runner Wilson Kipketer ahead of him on the all-time list. Kipketer’s 1:41.11 stood as a world record for 13 years.