800m Olympic and World Champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi during an interview with NTV at 2-Running Athletics Club in Chepterit, Nandi County on October 08, 2025.
Olympics and world men’s 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi has hinted at a switch to the 1,500m within the next two years as he looks to seal his dominance in middle distance running.
The Kapsabet-based athlete, who has become a symbol of hope and inspiration for the boy child after winning Kenya’s lone gold medal in the men’s category at the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships, is not new to the metric mile race.
Appearing in NTV’s Monday talk show SportOn! hosted by Bernard Ndong and James Wokabi, Wanyonyi revealed that he used to compete in 1,500m while in school and would have now problem stepping up the distance, perhaps in the 2028 Olympic Games.
“I don’t want to run the 800m race for a long period because I believe I’m still young and there is a need to progress well in my career. I also want to compete in the 1,500m and the 5,000m and gauge my performance,” he said.
What about the long-standing 800m world record of David Rudisha?
Wanyonyi, who hails from Endebes in Trans Nzoia, said that the record is open for anyone to have a go since most of the top 800m runners are capable of running sub 1:42 times this season.
Rudisha claimed the record at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, United Kingdom with a jaw dropping 1:40.91.
Wanyonyi’s personal best time is right up there at 1:41.11, set last year. In fact, it is the joint second fastest time in history. Kenyan-born Dane Wilson Kipketer ran the same time in 1997 which was then a sensationally fast world record until Rudisha happened 15 years later.
800m Olympic and World Champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi during an interview with NTV at 2-Running Athletics Club in Chepterit, Nandi County on October 08, 2025.
“For now, I will start my build up slowly as we head to the next season, but concerning the world record, if one trains well, it is achievable. I can’t say that I will be going for it but we are many and it might go down soon,” he said.
Wanyonyi, who trains in Kapsabet, Nandi County, clinched a gold medal in Tokyo after running from the front winning, from the start.
Reflecting on the Tokyo 800m final, Wanyonyi said that it was competitive and he knew he had to be at his best to stand a chance of winning against the strong field.
He won in a blistering championship record time of 1:41.86 as the fast finishing Algerian Djamel Sedjati claimed second spot in 1:41.90 while Canada’s Marco Arop came in third in 1:41.95.
Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi celebrates after winning gold in the men's 800m at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on September 20, 2025.
“The race was so tight and I expected that because this season everybody has run so well and I knew they were looking at me. I knew Arop was just beside me in the last few metres to the finish line but I didn’t know Sedjati from Algeria was running from the outside lane and he almost beat me,” narrated Wanyonyi.
Considering his friendly rivalry with Arop, Wanyonyi said that it was all healthy as the Canadian keeps pushing him to perform better.
At the 2023 Budapest championships, Wanyonyi, who won silver, reckons, in hindsight, he would have done better if he had more experience.
He said the race taught him a lesson on how to compete in the championship and that is why this year he didn’t want to take chances.
Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi celebrates with his national flag after winning gold in the men's 800m at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on September 20, 2025.
“I just wanted to be at the front because it gave me that chance to control the pace. Nowadays, the 800m race looks like a sprinting event and there is no time to rectify anything if you mess because it’s only two laps and the race is done.”
He cannot thank Rudisha more for having a word with him at the dinner table on the day of the 800m men’s final.
The great Rudisha told him to remain focused and bring the medal home, Wanyonyi confesses.
“The final had many athletes who had competed so well in the season. I knew the championships won’t be an easy task and when the world record holder talked to me, I was motivated more,” said.
He revealed that running on the second last day of the championships when no Kenyan man had won gold added more pressure on him. Thankfully, he dealt with it ably in that tense race with a photo finish.
