The Japan Times - Wanyonyi, the former cattle herder ready to eclipse Rudisha

Rudisha set the world record of 1min 40.91sec when he won gold at the 2012 London Games, one of the most iconic track and field moments in recent Olympic history.

For the first time in more than a decade, there are a handful of middle distance stars seemingly capable of etching their own names as the event's leading light.

At the heart of that pack is Wanyonyi, who at just 20 was crowned Olympic champion at last year's Paris Games, a year after sealing silver at the world championships in Budapest.

Wanyonyi, who opened his season by bagging $100,000 for second (800m) and first (1,500m) places in the inaugural meet of Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track series in Jamaica, has notched up four victories on this season's Diamond League circuit.

He now turns his focus on the 800m in Lausanne on Wednesday where four of the top six rated runners will be tracking him down: Canada's world champion and Paris silver medallist Marco Arop, the US pair of Bryce Hoppel and Josh Hoey, and Spain's Mohamed Attatoui.

"Anyone right now can break the world record because the 800m right now is very competitive," Wanyonyi told journalists on Tuesday.

"Anyone can run under 1:40: anyone, not just me. This (shoe) technology is very good for athletes. If you train well, you stay focused, you can manage to run very fast."

Wanyonyi, a veritable poster boy for humility which he credits to his tough upbringing, added: "My body is different from Rudisha's. Rudisha is strong for the first lap and I am strong in the second lap.

"I have better endurance than Rudisha, but I need to respect Rudisha because he ran under 1:42 seven times."

- Rudisha the friend -

Wanyonyi has himself run six sub-1:42.00 800m races, with a personal best of 1:41.11 set at last year's Lausanne Diamond League meet.

It was a performance that consolidated his third-place position on the world all-time list, with only Rudisha and Wilson Kipketer above him.

"Rudisha is my friend," said Wanyonyi, whose best this season is 1:41.44 in Monaco. "I remember the last time I saw him he told me, 'Now is your time to shine'. I told him I respected him.

"I have time to improve, so I need to improve my personal best, then think about the world record."

One of 12 children -- six boys and six girls -- Wanyonyi's route to international stardom was far from straightforward, starting with early mockery as running was not commonplace in his Luhya tribe.

Family financial woes saw Wanyonyi taken out of primary school at the age of 10 to work as a cattle herder.

That economic situation worsened when he lost his father in 2018, a tragedy that saw his mother and younger siblings move away.

Wanyonyi, currently coached by Kenya-based Italian Claudio Berardelli, eventually returned to school and was spotted by youth coach Janeth Jepkosgei, the 2007 world 800m champion and 2008 Olympic silver medallist.

He promptly won the 800m at the world under-20 championships in Nairobi in 2021 in 1:43.76. The Olympic title was won later that summer in Tokyo by his compatriot Emmanuel Korir in 1:45:06.

A year later, Wanyonyi won his first Diamond League race aged 17 and finished fourth at the Eugene world championships, going on to win a first senior gold as part of Kenya's mixed relay at the world cross-country champs.

- Financial must -

"I started running because I come from a poor background," he said, having bought a plot of land on which he built a house for his mother and siblings after his world under-20s success.

"I said (to myself that) I need to run. I need to be a champion one time because I need to help my family. I need money to help my siblings, my mother."

The Olympic final, he said, had been a "lot of pressure" and after crossing the line and embracing his mother, he was left ruing the absence of his father.

"I asked myself why is my father not alive? Because I need my father to see this race. I need my father to be there. All in all, I can say this was very bad for me," he said.

As for next month's world championships, Wanyonyi was cagey, although he admitted he had been boosted by the experience of going through world and Olympic racing schedules.

"I need to go there, try my best to reach the finals. Then anything can happen."

M.Sugiyama--JT