Wanyonyi follows up Olympic win with sizzling 800 metres in Lausanne
LAUSANNE: Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya inched ever so close to the men’s 800 metres world record on Thursday, missing the global mark by two tenths of a second in winning the Lausanne Diamond League with the second fastest time in history.
Wanyonyi, who turned 20 during the Paris Olympics, clocked one minute 41.11 seconds to narrowly miss the world mark of 1:40.91 set by Kenya’s David Rudisha at the 2012 London Olympics.
The young Kenyan ferociously chased the green lights in the inner lane that keep pace with the world record in ideal 25°C conditions, just missing Rudisha’s record but matching Wilson Kipketer’s 1997 time as second fastest ever run.
“I’m so happy to have run the world lead (quickest time this season). I really loved the crowd, and I hope for the best in Silesia,” said Wanyonyi, who will take aim at the record again on Sunday in Poland.
Aided by wavelength technology and two pace-setters, Wanyonyi gritted his teeth right through to the line, with Rudisha’s once-untouchable mark seemingly on course to be broken at some time in the near future.
France’s Gabriel Tual, who finished third behind Wanyonyi and Canada’s world champion Marco Arop, said he didn’t think Rudisha’s record would stand for much longer.
“When you see the wavelength light just in front, it’s really not far,” he said. “I think it’ll be broken either in Silesia or Brussels.”
Other Olympic champions who were successful included Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who blasted to an impressive 19.64sec to win the 200m.
The 21-year-old, whose 200m gold in Paris was the first ever for his country, admitted that he had come to Lausanne on the back of eight days of no training, having made a rapturous return to Gaborone.
“The most important thing for me is that even after such achievements like the ones I did at the Olympics, at the end of the day, you just have to keep running to maintain the form throughout the season,” he said.
American Noah Lyles was missing from the field, having announced this week that he was shutting down his season.
On an otherwise mixed night for Olympic champions, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen exacted a small measure of revenge over American Cole Hocker in winning the men’s 1,500m in 3:27.83, two weeks after Hocker shocked the field to win gold in Paris. The American crossed second on Thursday.
“It’s been almost two weeks since Paris so there was plenty of time to recover,” said Ingebrigtsen, who bounced back from his fourth-place finish in the Olympic 1,500m to win the 5,000. “A lot of it has been mental including going home, taking some easy days and then getting back to work. Tonight’s race gave me good answers and I’m looking forward to building on this.”
Hocker had chopped a whopping three seconds off his best time en route to his Olympic victory in one of the biggest upsets at Stade de France, and it has been a big adjustment for the newly crowned champion.
“Considering the overwhelming past two weeks, it was a solid race,” Hocker said on Thursday. “Physically I felt comfortable, but mentally, it’s a new challenge being announced as Olympic champion.”
Double world women’s shot put champion Chase Jackson of the US, who suffered heartbreak in Paris when she did not qualify for the final, hurled the shot 20.64 metres for the victory on Thursday, beating Germany’s Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye by more than a metre.
“I didn’t take any time off after the last event — I just went straight back to training,” Jackson said. “My goal is to win another world title and keep pushing myself. I know I can go further, much further.”
Jamaica’s Rasheed Broadbell handed American Grant Holloway a rare defeat in the men’s 110m hurdles. Broadbell, the bronze medallist in Paris, overtook Holloway from the final hurdle to cross in 13.10, while Holloway, who finally added an Olympic gold in Paris to his three world titles, had to settle for second in 13.14.
“Coming off that high from the Olympics, it’s challenging to keep that same pace, but I’m focused on learning from this race to run better next time,” Holloway said. “Once you’ve reached your goals, it can be tough to keep pushing, but I’m prepared to defend my world titles. As long as I’m improving, it’s a good sign.”
Two-time Olympic long jump champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece soared 8.06m on his sixth and final jump to overtake Jamaica’s Wayne Pinnock, who was second with 8.01.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the women’s high jump world record-holder and Olympic champion from Ukraine, cleared 1.99m for the victory.
Another winner in the Swiss city meet, coming just 12 days after the last of the track and field action at the Stade de France, was Femke Bol.
The Dutchwoman won the 400m hurdles in 52.55sec to compensate somewhat for her bronze medal showing in Paris behind record-setting Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Anna Cockrell.
Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2024
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