Emmanuel Wanyonyi reveals why he loves competing against track rival Marco Arop

Emmanuel Wanyonyi reveals why he loves competing against track rival Marco Arop

Abigael Wafula 09:23 - 18.05.2024

Emmanuel Wanyonyi has opened up on why he loves battles against top competitors like Canada's Marco Arop.

World 800m silver medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi has opened up about why he loves competing against Canadian Marco Arop.

Wanyonyi explained his love for running against strong rivals who enable him to push to the limits and singled out Arop, who has played a huge role in terms of challenging him.

The duo first made headlines at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, with the Canadian taking the 800m title and Wanyonyi settling for silver in the hotly-contested race.

The 19-year-old then had sweet revenge against the Canadian at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen before taking the Diamond League final trophy at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon.

“I like competition because I like it when people run in the front like me. I usually like people like Arop because they push me to keep going,” Wanyonyi told the Inside Track, a World Athletics exclusive, front row, access-all-areas programme for everything athletics.

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The duo is yet to lock horns in 2024 and fans are eagerly waiting to see how things will turn out when they compete.

So far, Wanyonyi has enjoyed an amazing 2024, bagging wins at the Kip Keino Classic and the Adizero Road to Records where he set the mile road world record, subject to ratification by World Athletics.

He opens his Diamond League campaign at the Meeting in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday, May 19 and will be looking forward to outshine his competitors including Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir.

On his part, Arop already started his 800m campaign with a win at the Diamond League Meeting in Xiamen, China and has had an unbeaten run in his individual events including wins at the Razorback Invitational, New Balance Indoor Grand Prix and the Pepsi Florida Relays.