Kenyan teenager Emmanuel Wanyonyi runs fastest 800m since 2012

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan teenager Emmanuel Wanyonyi ran the fastest 800 meters since 2012, his time of 1:41.70 on Saturday making him the third-fastest man in the history of the event.

The 2023 world silver medalist's dominant performance at the Olympic athletics trials in Kenya qualified him for the Paris Games.

Only world record holder David Rudisha – a two-time Olympic and world champion from Kenya – and Dane Wilson Kipketer ran faster.

Wanyonyi, 19, almost failed to qualify for the final after tripping and falling during Friday's semi-finals, where he finished sixth.

“If I hadn't fallen yesterday, I wouldn't have run like that today, so everything happens for a reason,” Wanyonyi said.

Rudisha holds the world record of 1:40.91 and also had the second and third fastest times, followed by Kipketer with the fourth fastest time of 1:41.11.

Ferdinand Omanyala set the world's best time in the men's 100 meters and qualified to represent Kenya in Paris. He ran 9.79 seconds and appears to have returned to the form that allowed him to set the African record of 9.77 at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi in 2021.

“I feel good, but I just feel like we can go faster,” Omanyala, 28, said. “Today was just a confirmation of what was to come because this part of the season we didn't do much, it was about touching on every aspect of the race, so now we let's enter the Olympic camp and we're going to emphasize even more, I expect a very fast time at the Olympics.

At the Tokyo Games three years ago, Omanyala retired in the semifinals.

Faith Kipyegon, a two-time world champion and record holder in the women's 1,500 meters, won in 3.53.99.

“I wanted to execute and run as fast as I could because people think you can't run fast at altitude, and I'm really grateful that I ran that fast,” she said.

Kipyegon said she hoped she could maintain her current form ahead of the Olympics.

Women's 800 meters world champion Mary Moraa qualified for Paris in second place with her sister Sarah Moraa in third.