Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi held off world champion Marco Arop of Canada to win Olympic men’s 800m gold in a lightning fast race on Saturday.
Wanyonyi clocked a personal best of 1:41.19 for victory, maintaining a proud record for Kenya who have now won the last five Olympic men’s 800m titles.
Arop took silver just one-hundredth of a second behind in a North American record.
Pre-race favorite Djamel Sedjati of Algeria claimed bronze with 1:41.50, while Bryce Hoppel was fourth in 1:41.67, a US record.
After winning his medal, Sedjati faced questions about a raid by French anti-doping officers at the Paris Olympic Village on Thursday in an investigation that sources close to the probe said focused on his coach Amar Benida.
“Nothing (important) happened. These are things that athletes can face,” Sedjati told reporters after his bronze.
Wanyonyi, 20, said the race had been “very tough.” He acknowledged the challenge of winning at the Olympics, stating he needed to run his personal best and felt pressure due to the tough competition, especially from Djamel Sedjati.
Wanyonyi revealed he received advice from compatriot David Rudisha, who set the 800m world record of 1:40.91 when winning gold at the 2012 London Olympics. He shared that Rudisha advised him to lead from start to finish, which motivated him to run fast throughout the race, despite the difficulty.
Wanyonyi was conscious of Arop’s fast finishing pace, but said he would not be twice burned, having been pushed into silver by the Canadian at last year’s world championships in Budapest.
“If you come from the back, then you beat me over the last 200 meters,” Wanyonyi said. “So this time I told Arop, ‘Nobody can beat me twice. You need to work hard if you want to beat me.'”
Super-fast race
In a fast race in front of 69,000 spectators at the Stade de France, all eight athletes went below 1:44, and it was the first time ever that four men in the same race broke the 1:42 mark.
It was a true gun-to-tape effort by Wanyonyi.
At the bell, Sedjati was sixth before falling to the back of the field.
But the Algerian, who has climbed into the five fastest performers in the history of the two-lap race this year, was not out of it.
He made his move down the far straight as the pace quickened.
But as much as he tried, Sedjati could not catch Wanyonyi and Arop, the pair locked in their own personal battle for gold.
In the end, Wanyonyi dipped for the win ahead of the Canadian, Sedjati just holding off a fast-finishing Hoppel for bronze.
Arop reflected on the year’s preparation and performance, expressing happiness with his silver medal and lifetime best.
He noted the challenge of the final 10 meters and his efforts to match Wanyonyi’s performance.
Sedjati acknowledged winning bronze but expressed a desire for gold. He noted the fast pace of the race and his less-than-ideal start, but was pleased to contribute Algeria’s third medal, highlighting the race as one of the fastest Olympic finals.
With AFP
