2024
Wanyonyi broke the world record in the road mile with a time of 3:54.56 at the Adizero Road to Records event in Herzogenaurach, Germany, on 27 April. The previous record of 3:56.13 belonged to American athlete Hobbs Kessler, who finished second to Wanyonyi in a time of 3:56.18. [10] Wanyonyi's record has since been broken by British athlete Elliot Giles, who ran 3:51.3 in September. [11]
In June, Wanyonyi ran 1:41.70 to win the 800 metres at the Athletics Kenya Olympic Trials, making him then the 3rd-fastest performer ever over this event, behind Wilson Kipketer's 1:41.11 and David Rudisha's world record of 1:40.91. [12] [13]
On 7 July, at the Meeting de Paris, Wanyonyi came in second place to Djamel Sedjati in the 800 meters, running a personal best of 1:41.58 while Sedjati ran 1:41.56. At the time, this made Wanyonyi and Sedjati the fourth and third fastest 800 meter runners in history, respectively. [14]
At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wanyonyi won the gold medal in the 800 metres, in a time of 1:41.19, surpassing Djamel Sedjati to become the third fastest man in history at the distance, behind only compatriot David Rudisha and Danish athlete Wilson Kipketer. [15] Only one hundredth of a second behind Wanyonyi was the 2023 800 metre World Champion Marco Arop, who set a new North, Central American, and Caribbean area record. [16]
On 22 August, Wanyonyi lowered his 800 metre personal best by 0.08 seconds to 1:41.11 at the Lausanne Diamond League. This time tied Wilson Kipketer's 1997 personal best, making Wanyonyi and Kipketer tied for second place in the all-time 800 meter list, behind only David Rudisha. [17]
2025
On 5 April, at the 2025 Grand Slam Track Kingston meeting, Wanyonyi, competing as a challenger, won the 1500 metres over 2024 Olympic medalists Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr, and Yared Nuguse, in a time of 3:35.18. [18] The next day, he finished second in the 800 metres behind Marco Arop. With 12 points earned in the 1500 metres and 8 points earned in the 800 metres, Wanyonyi was crowned the men's short distance Slam Champion of the meeting. [19] On 26 April, Wanyonyi defended his title in the road mile at the Adizero Road to Records event, setting a new personal best of 3:52.45, which stands as the third fastest performance in history. [20]
