Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir is optimistic Kenya can end a seven-year wait for gold at the World Championships in the men’s 800m category.

No Kenyan has ascended to the throne since World Record holder David Rudisha won in Beijing China in 2015.

The US-based athlete now feels the timing is right following his assessment of the men’s heats on the sixth day of the biannual event ongoing in Eugene, Oregon.

“There is a lot of determination from all my teammates. I feel we have a big chance not just for the gold medal but a podium sweep if we can get our strategy right,” Korir told People Sport.

“I don’t want to get carried away because we still have the semis to plan for, generally I am confident with the team and what we can do if we remain focused,” said the reigning Diamond League winner.

Yesterday morning, he led the Kenyan squad of World Under-20 champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Commonwealth Games champion Wycliffe Kinyamal and Noah Kibet into the semi-final of the men’s 800m at the World Athletics Championships.

Korir was emphatic in his heat gliding to victory while a hard-fighting Wanyonyi finished third in his preliminary while Kinayamal was second on his.

Kibet, who finished second behind Wanyonyi at last year’s World Under-20 Championship was fifth in the penultimate heat and luckily went through as one of the fastest losers due to his superior qualification time, 1:45.41. Canada’s marco Arop won in 1:44.56.

Korir was first out among the Kenyans and he showed his supremacy with a measured race. At the bell, he sat third in the field and dropped to fifth at the back straight.

But heading to the business end of the track, he galloped upfront and managed to get in the lead, winning the race in 1:49.05, leaving the rest of the field to battle for the remaining two automatic qualifying slots.

“You don’t need to go that hard in the heats or even semis as long as your calculations are right then there is no need to panic, just get the finals,” he underscored.

Wanyonyi meanwhile finished third in his heat, which was won by Morocco’s Moad Zahafi who timed 1:46.15. Wanyonyi timed 1:46.45, faster than Korir’s winning time.

The 17-year-old seemed to have made the same mistake he made at the National Trials, being tucked in the inside lane after the start.

But at the bell, he began to peel off but had a lot of work to do as he had to come from the outside. At the home stretch, he sprinted his way to third and automatically qualify.