Kenyan Wanyonyi beats Arop for Olympic gold in 800 meters

Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyonyi held off world champion Marco Arop of Canada in a lightning-fast race on Saturday to win Olympic gold in the 800 meters.

Wanyonyi ran a personal best of 1 minute 41.19 seconds to claim victory, which remains an honorable record for Kenya, which has now won the last five Olympic titles in the men’s 800 meters.

Arop took silver by just one hundredth of a second, a North American record.

The pre-race favourite, Djamel Sedjati of Algeria, took bronze with a time of 1:41.50, while Bryce Hoppel came fourth with a time of 1:41.67, an American record.

After winning his medal, Sedjati faced questions about a raid by French anti-doping officials on the Olympic Village in Paris on Thursday. Sources close to the investigation said the focus of the investigation was on his coach Amar Benida.

“Nothing (major) happened. These are things that athletes can face,” Sedjati told reporters after his bronze medal.

Wanyonyi, 20, said the race had been “very tough”.

“I came to Paris and told myself that this race would not be easy because it is the Olympic Games, so I have to run my personal best to win,” he said.

“I felt more pressure because I knew it wasn’t easy. Sedjati is not easy (to beat), he’s a tough guy.”

Wanyonyi admitted he had received advice from fellow countryman David Rudisha, who ran the world record in the 800 metres in a time of 1:40.91 when he won gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

“Rudisha said to me yesterday, ‘You have to run your race, be in the lead from start to finish,’” he said.

“So I had to run really hard, that’s why I led from start to finish. That wasn’t easy for me.”

Wanyonyi was aware of Arop’s fast final sprint but said he would not be deterred twice after being pipped to silver by the Canadian at last year’s world championships in Budapest.

“If you come from behind, you’ll beat me in the last 200 meters,” Wanyonyi said. “So this time I told Arop, ‘Nobody can beat me twice. You have to work hard if you want to beat me.'”

•⁠ ⁠Super fast race –
In a fast-paced race before 69,000 spectators at the Stade de France, all eight athletes ran under 1:44. It was the first time ever that four men broke the 1:42 barrier in the same race.

It was a real shot from Wanyonyi.

At the bell Sedjati was in sixth place, but after that he dropped to last place.

But the Algerian, who has climbed to the top five fastest in the history of the two-lap race this year, was not out.

He made his move on the straight as the pace increased.

But no matter how hard he tried, Sedjati could not catch Wanyonyi and Arop. The pair were locked in a personal battle for gold.

In the end, Wanyonyi took the win, ahead of the Canadian. Sedjati just held off the fast Hoppel for bronze.

“We’ve been working towards this day all year and we thought we got the timing right. I couldn’t be happier with the way I performed,” said Arop.

“I achieved a great personal record and a silver medal, I can’t get angry.

“It wasn’t the first time we had a finish like that. I knew Wanyonyi would have a good last 10 meters and I just tried to match him.”

Sedjati added: “I won the bronze medal, but I wanted the gold medal.

“It was a very fast race. I didn’t start very well, but I’m very happy with the medal after the medals of Kaylia Nemour in gymnastics and Imane Khelif in boxing.

“I am very proud to bring home the third medal for Algeria. It is one of the fastest Olympic finals in history, with four runners in 1:41. I have done my utmost to make sure I get on the podium. I am happy with this bronze medal.”

AFP