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Mind games or what? Wanyonyi pays glowing tribute to his 800m rival Arop
Canada's Marco Arop (right) and Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi celebrate after the men's 800m final during the World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on August 26, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Marco Arop beat Emmanuel Wanyonyi in the final of men’s 800m race at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
- Wanyonyi returned favour, beating the Canadian in the final of the two-lap race final at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Olympics 800 metres champion, Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya, has paid glowing tribute to his rival Marco Arop of Canada, describing the reigning world champion over the distance as “a friend and a runner who is more experienced and better than me.”
Wanyonyi has had a healthy rivalry with the more senior Arop on track, and their paths will cross again today (Tuesday) when they lead their teams to the heats of men’s 800m at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo from 1:30pm (Kenyan time).
“Marco is my friend. He is more experienced than me, and is a better runner than me,” Wanyonyi said in a conference call with journalists.
Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya crosses the line to win gold ahead of Marco Arop of Canada and third place Djamel Sedjati of Algeria at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on August 10, 2024.
Wanyonyi, 21, has had a long-running but healthy rivalry with the 28-year-old Canadian over the past two years, sharing major championship titles between themselves.
Arop beat Wanyonyi in the final of men’s 800m race at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, but Wanyonyi returned favour, beating the Canadian in the final of the two-lap race final at the 2024 Olympic Games held in Paris.
In Budapest, Arop clocked 1 minute and 44.24 seconds to win gold ahead of Wanyonyi (1:44.53) and Great Britain’s Ben Pattison (1:44.83). At the 2024 Olympic Games, Wanyonyi turned the tables on Arop, winning gold medal in final of the two-lap race.
In Paris, Wanyonyi clocked 1:41:19 to win the men’s 800m final by the thinnest of margins ahead of Arop, who clocked 1:41:20. Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati timed 1:41:50 to take the bronze medal.
Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi celebrates after winning the men's 800m race of the London Diamond League on July 19, 2025.
Wanyonyi attributes his resurgence to “increased experience” which he did not have back then.
“In Budapest, I had everything going for me – age, form and strength – but he (Arop) still beat me with experience,” Wanyonyi said.
“He is a disciplined athlete, blessed with longevity.”
“After Budapest, I said I would need experience to win. Then I went to a race in China (Xianmen Diamond League held on September 2, 2023) and I started winning,” Wanyonyi recalled.
Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi celebrates after setting a new meeting record to win the men's 800m race at Monaco Diamond League on July 11, 2025.
It is at Xiamen Diamond League held on September 2, 2023 that Wanyonyi turned the tables on Arop, winning in 1:43.20 which was a world-leading time then.
From then on, Wanyonyi grew from strength to strength, and beat Arop in a number of Diamond League races that followed.
On August 22, 2024, Wanyonyi won the men’s 800m race at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Lausanne in 1:41.11, rising to joint second on the world all-time list, moving closer to the world record of 1:40.91 set by David Rudisha at the 2022 London Olympics.
Other Kenyans racing in the men’s 800m heats that begin at 1:35pm are Nicholas Kiplangat Kebenei, Kelvin Kimtai Loti, and Alfred Ng’eno.
