Second Gold for Kenya As Emmanuel Korir Wins Men’s 800 Metres at World Championships

Second Gold for Kenya As Emmanuel Korir Wins Men’s 800 Metres at World Championships

Martin Moses
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:07 PM
  • Emmanuel Korir added the men's 800 metres World title to his Olympic title at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon
  • Korir led a packed field of talents to win Kenya's second gold at the championships, while starlet Emmanuel Wanyonyi narrowly missed out on the medal bracket
  • Korir replaced Donavan Brazier as the world champion, with the American failing to qualify even for the finals

Kenya started Day 9 of the World Athletics Championships on a positive note as Emmanuel Korir stormed to victory in the men's 800 metres finals.

Korir was the man to beat and he did not disappoint as he won the race with a season-best of 1:43.71 to claim Kenya's second gold at the championships.

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Korir is now both an Olympic and World champion after winning the Tokyo Olympics last year. Algeria's Djamel Sedjati finished second, while Canada's Marco Arop, after leading for most of the race, had to settle for bronze.

Young talent and world U-20 champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi finished just outside the podium places in fourth.

Emmanuel Korir, 800 metres, World Champion, Olympic champion
Emmanuel Korir celebrates after winning the men's 800 metres final. Photo by Michael Kappeler.
Source: Getty Images

It was also sweet for Korir, who managed to reclaim a title that David Rudisha last won for Kenya in 2015. Rudisha remains the greatest runner in the history of the race. He has the world record to his name and six of the eight fastest times.

Beatrice Chebet wins silver in women's 5000 metres final

At the same time, Sports Brief has reported that Team Kenya increased her medal tally at the World Athletics Championships as reigning African champion Beatrice Chebet won silver in the women's 5000 metres at the World Athletics Championships.

Chebet had to contend with a second-place finish behind Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay, who extended her country's impeccable run in the championships. Tsegay added her win to the silver medal she won in the 1,500 metres earlier in the week.

The main talking point before the race was which Kenyan had it in her to replace the defending champion Hellen Obiri. Obiri chose to withdraw from the 5,000 metres and focus on the 10,000 metres, where she took silver.

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Martin Moses
Martin Moses is a sports journalist with over five years of experience in media. He graduated from Multimedia University of Kenya (Bachelor of Journalism, 2017-2021)
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