NAIROBI, Kenya, August 28, 2026 – Even as he celebrates clocking the world’s fastest time in 2026, Emmanuel Wanyonyi knows things could have turned out far worse in Zurich on Thursday night.
The Olympic and world champion reveals that he was grappling with a stomach complication in the build-up to the men’s 800m at the Zurich Diamond League, and was unsure of performing well.
“The time was amazing. The race was good. The weather conditions were good too. I could go out and play, my body was responding to run fast. But before the start of the race. I had a big problem with my stomach. I though that maybe I cannot go to finish the race well,” Wanyonyi said.
However, it turned out to be one of the best nights of his career thus far as he timed a world lead of 1:41.76 to cross the finish line first, ahead of the Algerian duo of Djamel Sedjati (1:41.83) and Slimane Moula (1:43.52) in second and third place, respectively.
Rewinding his mind back to the race, Wanyonyi said the result was a just reward for the 200 per cent effort he had expended to win.
“But I just got here to win. Just to try to run fast, to run my own race. This result shows that my body is coming up. And I am so happy to be here with this great crowds. I give the atmosphere 200 per cent. And when I see the world records being broken, I know my time will come. There is time for everything,” the 22-year-old said.
Thursday’s victory is Wanyonyi’s third in this year’s Diamond League, following previous triumphs in Monaco and Lausanne.
In particular, he broke the world record for the men’s 1000m in Monaco, stopping the timer at 2:11.83.
In the larger scheme of things, success in Zurich puts the youngster well on course to clinching another Diamond League trophy.
