Paris 2024: Kenya’s Wanyonyi overcomes ferocious assaults to win the 800 million gold medal

Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya won the 800m gold medal at the Olympics by fending off a fierce challenge from Marco Arop of Canada.

Wanyonyi took home the gold on Saturday night, clocking in at 1:41.19 minutes. Arop’s timing of 1:41.20 minutes earned him the silver medal. Djamel Sedjati of Algeria won the bronze medal. He finished in 1:41.20 minutes.

Third quickest time ever recorded is the winning time. In the meanwhile, Belgian Bashir Abdi took second place in 2:06:47, while Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola, who was brought in as a late substitute, won the men’s marathon in an Olympic record of 2:06:26 in intense heat and humidity over a course of extremely taxing hills.

Kenya’s Benson Kipruto, who won the Tokyo marathon in 2:02:16 this year and is now the fastest man in the world, made his Olympic debut with a bronze in 2:07:00 on a day when his 39-year-old colleague Eliud Kipchoge, who was aiming for a third straight title, was unable to complete.

Making his Olympic debut, Emile Cairess of Britain finished in fourth position with a time of 2:07:29. In the last stages, he overtook Deresa Geleta of Ethiopia, who finished a second ahead of Japan’s Akira Akasaki, who achieved a personal best, with a time of 2:07:31.