Olympic and world 800m champion and Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyonyi shattered the 1,000m world record, which had stood for nearly 27 years, with a time of 2.11.83s at the Monaco Diamond League on Friday.
Noah Ngeny set the current world record of 2:11.96 in Rieti, Italy, on September 5, 1999. Wanyonyi followed the pacemakers as the first, Patryk Sieradzki, reached the 400m on world record pace in 50.95 as planned.
The second pacemaker, Louey Ouerrat, hit 800m in 1:45.11 before Wanyonyi took over and stormed towards the finish, chased hard by 2022 world 1500m champion Jake Wightman.
He charged over the line in 2:11.83, Wightman followed him in 2:12.77 to move to fifth on the world all-time list and world and Olympic medallist Djamel Sedjati was third in 2:13.94 as the top six all dipped under 2:15.
Speaking after the record-breaking race, Wanyonyi said as quoted by the IAAF website: “This was the first time I ran the 1000m and breaking the world record makes me so happy. I want to thank the other athletes who pushed me to my limit.”
Wanyonyi, however, dismissed any plans of attempting to break the 800m mark set by fellow Kenyan David Rudisha at London 2012.
“I don’t want to talk about the world record in the 800m. I first want to run fast and improve my personal best,” said Wanyonyi. “Let me keep quiet. Actions speak louder than words.”
With his personal best of 1:41.11 set at the 2024 Lausanne Diamond League, Wanyonyi and Wilson Kipketer are tied for second place in the all-time 800 metre list, behind only Wanyonyi’s compatriot David Rudisha, who holds the world record.
Wanyonyi briefly held the world record in the road mile, with a time of 3:54.56, from April 2024 to September 2024. Kenya President William Samoei Ruto led the East African nation to congratulate Wanyonyi on his latest success, saying it had shown the world the strength of Kenyan athletics.
“Congratulations to Emmanuel Wanyonyi on breaking the men’s 1000m world record with a remarkable 2:11.83 at the Monaco Diamond League, ending a 27-year wait for a new world record in the event,” said the Head of State in a statement on his social media accounts.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich raced to the world all-time list, winning the 3000m in a meeting record of 8:08.95 – the third-fastest performance in history.
Ngetich set off right behind the pacemakers in Monaco and followed Olympic silver medallist Jess Hull, who helped to pace Kipyegon to her 8:07.04 3000m in Silesia in August, as she hit 1000m in 2:41.85.
She took control with three laps to go and passed 2000m in 5:24.08. She slipped off world record pace over the last couple of laps but managed to hold on to become the third-quickest runner in history.
