Emmanuel Wanyonyi breaks a 27-year-old world record
The Olympic 800m champion ran 2:11.83 in Monaco, taking Noah Ngeny’s 1999 mark.
Key points
- Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi ran 2:11.83 for 1000m at the Herculis meeting in Monaco on 10 July 2026, breaking the world record.
- He took 0.13 seconds off the 2:11.96 set by his compatriot Noah Ngeny in Rieti in 1999.
- Wanyonyi, the Olympic and world 800m champion, later won the Diamond League 800m title in Brussels in a meeting record 1:41.80.
Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi broke one of athletics' oldest world records on 10 July 2026, running the 1,000 metres in 2:11.83 at the Herculis meeting in Monaco.
He took 0.13 seconds off the record of 2:11.96, set by his compatriot Noah Ngeny in Rieti, Italy, in 1999.
A debut to remember
Remarkably, it was Wanyonyi's first race over the distance. After the pacemakers reached 800m in 1:45.11, he took over and pulled clear. Britain's Jake Wightman, the 2022 world 1,500m champion, finished second in 2:12.77.
A season at the top
Wanyonyi is the Olympic and world champion at 800m. In September he capped his season by winning the Diamond League 800m title in Brussels in a meeting record of 1:41.80.
With Nairobi set to host the 2029 World Championships, the 22-year-old could have the chance to race for a world title at home.
Sources
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