Emmanuel Wanyonyi storms to world lead in Monaco Diamond League
By Valerian Khakayi, July 11, 2025Olympic and World Champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi delivered a sensational performance on Friday night, July 11, 2025, at the Monaco Diamond League, powering to a world-leading and meeting-record time of 1:41.44 to clinch victory in the men’s 800m event.
Against a world-class lineup of Olympic and world championship medallists, including reigning world champion Marco Arop, Djamel Sedjati, Josh Hoey, and Tshepiso Masalela, Wanyonyi dominated from gun to tape.
He finished nearly six-tenths clear of second-place Josh Hoey, who clocked 1:42.01, with Sedjati third in 1:42.20
“WANYONYIII, The Olympic champ powers to the 10th fastest 800m of all time with 1:41.44 to come out on top in Monaco, World lead, Meeting record,” Athletics Kenya posted on X.
It was another brilliant display from Wanyonyi, who has begun the season well in preparation for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.
At just 20 years old, Wanyonyi now holds the 10th fastest time in history over 800m. This adds to his remarkable resume, which includes the personal best of 1:41.11 set at the 2024 Lausanne Diamond League, tying him with Wilson Kipketer and placing him second on the all‑time list behind David Rudisha (1:40.91).
This was Wanyonyi’s third consecutive Diamond League victory this season, following wins in Stockholm and Oslo, the latter yielding a world lead of 1:41.95 in June.
Kenya’s middle-distance sensation also briefly held the world record in the road mile, with a time of 3:54.56, from April to September 2024. As the Paris 2024 Olympic champion and a two-time Diamond League Final winner in 2022 and 2023, he has now secured eight Diamond League victories.
Hailing from Nandi County, Wanyonyi was discovered by a teacher at a young age and has been nurtured into a star by coach Claudio Berardelli. He consistently made the podium across track disciplines from the 400m up to the 5,000m at both county and national levels.
“When I started, I ran 5,000m and then 3,000m and even steeplechase, as I was just trying out everything. I even did 8km in cross-country,” he said in Budapest in 2023.
