Reigning Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi is among the athletes set to miss the 800m race in the 2025 edition of the Kipkeino Classic Continental Tour.

The event is set to be staged at the Ulinzi Sports Complex in Nairobi, scheduled for Saturday, May 31, 2025.

Also missing in the list is Tsephiso Masalela, who beat Wanyonyi in a record time in the Rabat Diamond League. Masalela delivered a stunning performance of 1:42.70, setting a new world lead, to edge Wanyonyi and Britain’s Max Burgin, who came second.

In their absence, Ferguson Rotich, a silver medalist in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, will lead a huge pool of Kenyan athletes.

Absence of favourites

Rotich, who finished second to Emmanuel Korir, will do with the company of Alex Korir, Noah Kibet, Nicholas Kebenei, and Aaron Chemingwa, another mainstay of the 800M races.

Cheminingwa raced against Wanyonyi in the track and field games in 2024 and will be among those fancying their chances in the absence of the favourites.

Wanyonyi eyes on Tokyo

Wanyonyi recently revealed the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in September as his next focus. 

“This was my first Diamond League of the season, competing in the 800m, and I clocked 1:43, and that means that my body is okay, and this is too early in the season: the season is very long. I think my preparation is going well,” Emmanuel Wanyonyi revealed to a local TV station after the Rabat leg.

“The race was okay, and I am happy to have run that time because that was the first time I was running 800m in the Diamond League. I’ve come from 1:46 to 1:43, and I’m going to train hard ahead of the World Championships,” the sprinter who recorded a slight improvement from his 1:46.44 time in the Grand Slam Track race in Kingston, Jamaica, said.

The foreign entrants in the race include Botswana duo Lethogonolo Mokgethi and Nkape Tumo. Khaleed Benmahdi will also contest the race.

Men’s 800m entry list

Ferguson Rotich (Kenya)

Lethogonolo Mokgethi (Botswana)

Nkape Tumo (Botswana)

Aaron Cheminingwa Kemei (Kenya)

Tuwei Cornelius (Kenya)

Alex Ngeno (Kenya)

Noah Kibet (Kenya)

Eric NzikwinKunda (Burundi),

Benmahdi Khaled (Algeria),

Nicholas Kebenei (Kenya)