Wanyonyi sets focus on Paris 2024 Olympic Games
World 800m silver medalist Emmanuel Wanyonyi is already looking forward to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after bagging silver at the World Athletics Championships which concluded last night.
Wanyonyi won silver in a time of 1:44.53 behind Canadian Marco Arop who took gold in 1:44.24. Ben Pattison completed the podium in 1:44.83.
Wanyonyi said the silver not only means a whole world to him but it’s a great inspiration going into an Olympic year.
He added the silver is a dream come true after finishing fourth at the World Championships last year in Oregon. He said the story would have been even better for him if the race was faster.
“I tend to thrive better in a faster race but this one was very slow. All the same, I thank God for the silver and I can only build up on it,” he added.
He talked to Kenya’s 800m world record holder, David Rudisha, just before the race and this gave him a lot of motivation.
“Rudisha told me to relax, believe in myself, and go for it and I guess that is exactly what I did,” noted Wanyonyi.
He said he would have loved to qualify for the final alongside fellow Kenyans, including Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir, Ferguson Rotich, and Alex Ngeno, but things did not work out and he was left as a lone ranger.
“Maybe if we were here all of us we would have won the title. Unfortunately, my colleagues were locked out with injuries and I just had to do what I did,” he noted.
Wanyonyi paid tribute to, especially, Korir and Ferguson, saying they are better runners than him especially when they are fit.
“As Kenyans, we just need to celebrate this silver because there is little we can do about injuries as was the case of Korir and Ferguson,” he noted.
He said he had learned that the World Championships are a totally different ball game compared to the Diamond League.
“ At the global championships, one has to go through the first round, semis, and eventually final, and surviving through all stages can be tricky. Just one mistake can easily lock you out and I guess this is what happened to many athletes,” he added.
He explained that the Diamond League is a one-off with comparatively easier competition.
He will compete in the Xiamen Diamond League in China on September 2 before returning home.
Wanyonyi, who is currently a Form 4 student, said it has been a delicate balance between books and training.
He, however, noted that he is happy that he is doing his final year and he can not wait.
posted Wednesday August 30th
by Chris Mbaisi