Emmanuel Wanyonyi Reveals Why He Plans to Dump 800m For Longer Distance at LA 2028 Olympics

Olympics and world 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi has disclosed the reasons behind his desire to ditch the two-lap race for a longer distance in two years’ time.

Emmanuel Wanyonyi is just 21 but at his young age, he is already a world and Olympics champion, things that some fail to achieve in their entire careers.

He is also the second fastest man in history over the 800m but despite dominating his race in the last two years, the youngster wants to try something else in the near future.

Wanyonyi is giving himself two more years as an 800m runner before switching to a longer distance and according to him, it is what he was meant to be doing and not the race that has brought him so much fame and fortune.

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What is Pushing Emmanuel Wanyonyi Out of 800m?

“I want to run 800m for the next two years and then switch to 1,500m,” Wanyonyi said on NTV, revealing that his plans for the 2028 Olympics Games in Los Angles do not include the 800m.

“I am preparing to run 1,500m at the Olympics [LA 2028]. It was my race from school. I was running 1,500m to 5,000m in school and then it became very competitive and my teacher advised me to run 800m,” he added.

The three-time 800m Diamond League winner feels he has already conquered the two-lap race and would be wasting his talents if he carried on longer when he has the capabilities to do even better in the 1,500m and other distances.

Kenyan Ace Left with One Worlds an 800m runner

“Now that I have an Olympics and world title in 800m, I need to transition to 1,500m and maybe, I could run 5,000m in future. If you run 1,500m for long, it affects long distance,” said the Trans Nzoia County native.

Going by his plan, Wanyonyi is left with one more World Championship as an 800m runner, being the 2027 edition Beijing, China, before he makes the transition and will want to make the most of it with the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in 2026 and Diamond League the major events that he will also be looking to conquer in the two years.

Wanyonyi won 800m silver at the 2023 World Championships before improving it to gold in 2025, coming after winning Olympics gold in 2024, the same year he ran 1:41.11, the joint second fastest 800m time in history, only bettered by David Rudisha’s world record of 1:40.91 set in 2012.