NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 26 – Teen Emmanuel Wanyonyi delivered another medal for Team Kenya at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary Saturday night, as he put up a brave home stretch sprint to clinch silver in the men’s 800m.
Wanyonyi clocked 1:44.53 to clinch silver, behind Canada’s Marco Arop who timed 1:44.24 for gold. Briton Ben Pattison concluded the medal haul with bronze in a time of 1:44.83.
Wanyonyi, just like he had done through the Heats and the semis, chose to run on the front and he crossed the first 400m in 52.68.
At the bell, the rest of the field started to surge and Wanyonyi took another gear, also pulling up his pace. At the back straight, Arop started galloping upfield, his long strides easily gliding past the rest of the group and into the lead.
He managed to go ahead of Wanyonyi, the 2021 World Under-21 Champion, and behind him, the field pushed harder and almost clipped his heels.
Wanyonyi hit the home stretch with some good power, pushing up his pace to ensure he had a healthy gap between him and the pack, crossing home for silver as the rest dipped their heads in to try clinch bronze.
It was a great improvement for Wanyonyi, who finished fourth in his senior Championship debut in Oregon last year while Arop improved from bronze to gold.
