The amazing journey of Kenya’s world champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi

_{By Olympics.com}

It’s hard to imagine that Kenya’s current top 800m runner almost didn’t become a runner at all.

Growing up in a large family in his hometown in Tran Nzoia County, situated northwest of the capital Nairobi, life was a struggle.

His family barely had enough to get by. By the age of 10, little Wanyonyi was forced to drop out of school, and like many boys in the remote parts of Saboti, some as young as six years, he sought work as a herd boy.

He looked after cattle as a means of survival for years, and during his free time, he would go running around a track at a local school. A teacher spotted his talent and supported his return to school.

Haunted by his difficult upbringing and the trauma of poverty, Wanyonyi trained harder and ran even faster.

He always made the podium across the track disciplines from the 400m event up to the 5,000m, at the county and national county 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 the cross-country,” he told Olympics.com in Budapest, where he won silver.

This story was first published by Olympics.com on January 10, 2024. Read the whole story written by Evelyn Watta by following this link: https://olympics.com/en/news/the-amazing-journey-of-kenya-s-world-champion-emmanuel-wanyonyi-exclusive-interview