"His school was situated in Nandi County, a high-altitude cradle hub of Kenya running. That’s where he met the 2007 world champion Janeth Jepkosgei, who had also just begun to focus on training young talents. “Janeth has done a lot for me. She is the one who encouraged me to keep going forward and continue to put in the work in training. She gave me my first training programme, advised me to focus on running 800m, then linked me up with Claudio [Berardelli], her former coach.”"
Last year he ran 1:43.32 or faster 4 times including 1:42.80. And he went from Budapest to Xiamen, China to Eugene, Oregon over a 3-week span will hitting his 2 fastest times and earning a silver medal. Not exactly ideal.
went back and watched his races and have to admit this guy never looks tired after a race. sometimes when an athlete wins they get a burst of energy and won't look tired compared to the other competitors, so i watched his world champs race where he got 2nd (thus taken to his limit for sure since he didn't win) and he never bends over to put his hands on his knees or lay down or anything like that. keeps his head held high every time.
so the whole making it look too easy bit is pretty much this guys m.o.
in 2023 he ran between 1:42.80 - 1:43.32 four times, with his other 7 results being 1:43.83 - 1:44.92 plus a 1:46 that was in a qualifying heat.
in 2024 he ran 1:43.57, 1:43.84, 1:51.76 (got tripped in a qualifying heat) then 1:41.70.
in his career he's run 1:43s seven times, twice in 2024, six in 2023, once in 2021
he had broken 1:43 with that 1:42.80 just once, coming last year at prefontaine
doping or not, 1:41.70 is a totally new level for Wanyonyi
2nd place Wycliffe Kinyamal had a very similar breakthrough: he had run in the 1:43s every season since 2017 (excluding 2020). his PB of 1:43.12 came in 2018 with his 2nd fastest result of 1:43.22 in 2023 so he's been extremely consistent. broke 1:43 for the first time in his career with his 1:42.50.
3rd place Koitatoi Kidali had the biggest breakthrough of all: he ran sub-1:46 once in 2022, once again in 2023, and then twice this season going 1:45.72 and 1:45.78. dude just dropped his SB by over 3 seconds and his PB of 1:45.24 from 2022 improved by 2.58 seconds!
*anybody know where the results can be viewed for this race? been searching on google for about 20 minutes and haven't seen it anywhere. very interested to see how the other competitors did relative to their PBs considering the top-3 all had very significant improvement.
I enjoy Wanyonyi’s running form, because it’s the same form that I decided to use in the second and last time I ever got roped into a 4x4 leg.
The first time, I actually sprinted to 300m, taking us from second-last to first…then died the last 100, and ended up bronze, or something like that. Fail.
It’s great watching him do it for 800m, and it’s amazing to me that it’s fast enough to come close to the ethereally floating Rudisha.👍
Dude's definitely tough. Interesting who his coach is.
“I was so committed to the running cause. I would leave school and go to training in my uniform or just my normal home clothes because that’s all I had. I didn’t even have training shoes. I would make sure I clock my 5 to 7km, morning and evening,” he said of what also became his escape. “I would go to bed sometimes quite late as I had to finish my assignments, but still wake up at 4 or 5am to train before going to class. I was often caned for reporting to class late because I had to train first. I was worried that if I fell back in training and running, I would lose the opportunity to study and the education scholarship.”
Rudisha was good, but he was only two tenths faster than Wilson Kipketer who also had a beautiful running style.
His world record is ranked slightly below the record of Hicham El Guerrouj and a bit more below Wayde van Niekerk’s record on the World Athletics site.
it helps only up to 400m where you are getting the benefit of decreased wind resistance with increased running speed; you are also burning energy more aerobically (65/35% anaerobic) in the 800m making oxygen debt a real factor in the final 200m..it would definitely be close to 1:41 at sea level with a 1st lap rabbit...
Wrong. Look at the horde of sea level runners who PR’d in the heats and final of the 800 in ‘68 in Mexico City. Keino certainly gained from the altitude in the 1500.
No one else did in the 1500. The 800 was on the borderline of anaerobic gains and aerobic challenges.
Who cares whether you're impressed or not! The fact of the matter is or rather still remains that Wanyonyi is now the 3rd fastest man over 800 after Rudisha and Kipketer! Go hug a porcupine or transformer!
Lol!
I Was watching a video of a leopard attempting to kill and eat a porcupine.
The Leopard kept insisting even after the porcupine kept turning away facing the other way. I think it was Masai Mara.
Well, the leopard lost "bigly" with several pines lodged n its snout. Then it looked stunned and helpless.
Wanyonyi looks like a boxer on a running track. Rudisha looked like he was created for the 800.
The continuous doping busts show nothing can now be trusted in Kenyan running. We are watching the equivalent of the T de F twenty years ago.
Wanyonyi does have more mass in his thighs than your stereotypical Kenyan, though i'd argue he looks more like a cyclist than a boxer
but maybe that increase in mass and anaerobic capacity is perfectly suited for the 800
admittedly i'm not in love with his stride, kinda has donkey among thoroughbred vibes, but fact of the matter is this kid has been very consistent and delivers when it matters so until and unless he gets sanctioned i'll root for him
Dude's definitely tough. Interesting who his coach is.
“I was so committed to the running cause. I would leave school and go to training in my uniform or just my normal home clothes because that’s all I had. I didn’t even have training shoes. I would make sure I clock my 5 to 7km, morning and evening,” he said of what also became his escape. “I would go to bed sometimes quite late as I had to finish my assignments, but still wake up at 4 or 5am to train before going to class. I was often caned for reporting to class late because I had to train first. I was worried that if I fell back in training and running, I would lose the opportunity to study and the education scholarship.”
His name is Claudio Berardelli. He has had at least six of his athletes banned for doping, including Titus Ekiru and Rita Jeptoo. Three of the athletes were banned for at least 8 years. Three of them were found guilty of tampering with medical records or obstructing the AIU, in addtion to their doping.
He worked with the infamous Frederico Rosa, but his doping associations were too much even for him. He was arrested for administering EPO to athletes, but the Kenyan police (lol) could find no concrete evidence.
Athletics coach Claudio Berardelli has been charged over the alleged administration of a prohibited performance enhancing substance to a Kenyan marathon champion.
Epic! Men's 800m Final, Emmanuel Wanyonyi narrowly misses the men's 800m world record at the 2024 Olympics Trials.//Let’s Connect:FACEBOOK: https://www.faceb...
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