Emmanuel Wanyonyi: A silent and unpretentious master in search of Olympic glory with Kenya

While in primary school, Wanyonyi dropped out of Kapretwa Primary School in Trans-Nzoia County and travelled to Kitale town in search of menial jobs.

He earned between 200 and 1,000 shillings after working for different families as a shepherd.

“I dropped out of school when I was in Grade 3 and I could not bear to see my family members suffer. I went to Kitale, Trans Nzoia County, where I sought manual jobs, including tending livestock for various families, to earn a living,” Wanyonyi told Nation Sport in a previous interview.

While he was herding cattle, a friend saw him running and suggested he try athletics. In 2018, a teacher at his old primary school spotted his talent, took him back to school and enrolled him in the seventh grade.

He excelled in the school races he participated in and one day while participating in a regional school games in Kapsabet, he caught the attention of Eliud Kirarei, a teacher at Kosirai High School in Nandi County. He convinced Wanyonyi to join the school after completing his primary education and the rest is history.

Over a four-year athletics career, he showed remarkable progression from amateur to winning the 800 metres title at the 2021 World Under-20 Athletics Championships, with a course record of one minute and 43.76 seconds in Nairobi.

He stepped up to the senior ranks in 2022, finishing fourth in the men’s 800m final at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon. Last year, he won the Diamond League series trophy and then won silver at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

He now has his sights set on winning a medal at the 2024 Olympics, as he will be competing in the games for the first time.

“It will be my first time at the Olympics, and the first thing I’m going to do when I get there is make sure I reach the final,” he told Nation Sport last week.

He is aware of the risk involved in competing at such a high level where the stakes are high.

“Sometimes if you are not careful or you fail to time your race well, you can be eliminated and lose,” says the athlete, who trains at 2N Running Club in Kapsabet, Nandi County. Wanyonyi knows from experience what it is like to be eliminated and lose.

At the Kenyan trials held at the Nyayo National Stadium on June 14 and 15, he tripped and fell during the semi-finals and finished sixth, well off the qualifying spots for the final. But he successfully appealed and was allowed to compete in the final, where he surprised everyone.

Wanyonyi won the trials in 1:41.70, the third-fastest time of all time, which is also the world best time this season. Wycliffe Kinyamal finished second in a personal best time of 1:42.50, followed by Koitatoi Kidai in third in 1:42.66.

David Rudisha was the fastest runner over the distance with a time of 1:40.91, followed by Denmark’s Wilson Kipketer (1:41.11). Wanyonyi also became the fastest man to run under 1:42 on Kenyan soil.

“If I hadn’t fallen yesterday, I wouldn’t have raced like this today, so everything happens for a reason,” reflected Wanyonyi, who is coached by Italian Claudio Berarrdeli.

His coach Berarrdeli did not expect him to achieve such a result in a race held at high altitude.

“I am proud to have trained a boy who seems destined for greater heights. He is disciplined, he listens to instructions and follows his programme well. I know he will go far. Personally, I did not expect him to achieve the best time of the season given the altitude in Nairobi,” said Claudio.

It is this fiery form that he adopts at the Paris Games as he dreams of achieving Olympic glory at the first attempt.