NAIROBI, Kenya, July 28, 2026 – Commonwealth Games champion Wycliffe Kinyamal took another steps towards defending his title with victory in the preliminary round of the men’s 800m on Tuesday afternoon.
Kinyamal clocked 1:46.79 to cross the finish line in Heat 1 of the one-lap race, ahead of Ben Pattison (1:46.96) of England and Handal Roban (1:47.28) of St Vincent and Grenadines, who took second and third place, respectively.
Joining Kinyamal in the semis were his fellow countrymen, Kelvin Kimtai and Nicholas Kebenei.
African champion Kimtai snatched victory in Heat 2, timing 1:47.22 across the finish line as Australian Luke Boyes (1:47.37) and Navasky Anderson of Jamaica (1:48.12) rounded off the top three.
Meanwhile, Kebenei did just about enough to sneak into the semis, clocking 1:45.99 to finish fourth in Heat 4.
Australia’s Peter Bol timed 1:45.86 to take first place, ahead of Englishman Alex Botterill (1:45.92) and Kethobogile Hangura (1:45.97) of Botswana, who came second and third respectively.
Kinyamal and Co will look to continue the same momentum by making it through the semis on Thursday night.
