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Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi has revealed a deep desire to change the fortunes of his family.

The 20-year-old comes from a family of 11 children, and one of the struggles he faced while a child was lack of school fees. At one point, he had to abandon his education for lack of just Ksh40 for fee.

While looking back at where he has come from, Wanyonyi has only one desire: to help his siblings have far better lives in the future.

“When I look at my family and where we came from, it only gives me strength. I can’t sleep, and I can’t rest. They have been through so much, and I want to give them a better life.”

“I wanted to do what my father would have done for them. They had to know that they were not alone. I want to leave a legacy. I’m not obsessed with it, but I believe it’s possible. I know there is a level I should reach, and I’m not yet there,” Wanyonyi told BBC Sport.

Father’s death

A huge burden of family responsibility was put on his shoulders following the death of his father in 2018.

“He had just dropped by the school to give me some money to buy running shoes with the payment he got that day.

“That day, my world fell apart. It was painful, but I didn’t have the luxury of grieving. I had to become the man of the house immediately,” he added.

As he ran at his school, he says his friends kept encouraging him, but he had doubts.

“People kept telling me, ‘You can make it far, Emmanuel,’ but I didn’t believe it. I didn’t see myself as anything special. I was just running.”

He became the third-fastest 800m runner of all time at Kenya’s Olympic trials and proceeded to win gold in Paris, France. This is an achievement that he says he wishes his father was alive to witness.

“It is not just a title – it has a lot of significance in my life. I wish my father was here to see me run. I would even push harder because of him, because of all the love he had for me,” he concluded.