It was a night to remember for Kenya’s track stars as the nation’s athletics pedigree shone brightly at the penultimate stop of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League circuit.
After finishing fourth in the men's 800m at the July 2026 London Diamond League, Wanyonyi responded in champion fashion - winning in Silesia last weekend and now making it two straight victories in Zurich.
Wanyonyi held off a strong challenge from Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati to win in a world-leading 1:41.76, with Sedjati closing behind in a season’s best of 1:41.83.
Fellow Kenyan Wyclife Kinyamal also impressed, finishing sixth in a season-best 1:44.25. Wanyonyi was thrilled with both his performance and the favourable conditions, crediting the cool Zurich evening for helping him produce the blistering time.
'The time was amazing'
"The time was amazing. The race was good. The weather conditions were good too. I could go out and play; my body was responding to run fast," said a beaming Wanyonyi, who won the gold medal in this event at the 2024 Summer Olympics and the 2025 World Championships, and holds the world record over the 1000 metres with a time of 2:11.83 set in 2026.
"Before the start of the race. I had a big problem with my stomach. I thought that maybe I couldn't finish the race well. But I just got here to win. Just to try to run fast, to run my own race.
"This result shows that my body is coming up. And I am so happy to be here with this great crowd. I give the atmosphere 200 per cent. And when I see the world records being broken, I know my time will come. There is a time for everything."
Meanwhile, Kenya celebrated a memorable 1-2 finish in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase as world champion Faith Cherotich surged to victory in 8:55:82, with Doris Lemngole breathing down her neck in a personal best 8:55.94.
Uganda’s Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai completed the podium after clocking 8:58.28.
In the men’s 1,500m, rising middle-distance sensation Phanuel Koech produced another polished display, battling to second place in 3:31.84, just 0.13 seconds behind Olympic champion Cole Hocker of the United States, who won in 3:31.71.
American Yared Nuguse finished third in 3:31.85, while former world champion Timothy Cheruiyot settled for 11th in 3:33.01.
In the men’s javelin throw, 2015 world champion Julius Yego narrowly missed out on a podium finish, placing fifth with a best throw of 81.66m.
Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage claimed victory with a towering 92.07m, ahead of Grenada’s Anderson Peters (86.93m) and Poland’s Dawid Wegner (85.16m).
Jepchirchir running Sydney Marathon
Attention now shifts to the Diamond League Finals in Brussels, Belgium, on September 4th to 5th, where Kenya’s stars will be chasing silverware to cap a remarkable campaign.
Meanwhile, Kenya and world champions Peres Jepchirchir and Alphonce Simbu will lead high-quality fields at the TCS Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS, a World Athletics Platinum Label road race and part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, on Sunday.
Kenya’s Jepchirchir faces a women’s field that includes Irine Cheptai, Magdalena Shauri, Stella Chesang, Shure Demise, Haven Hailu and Vivian Cheruiyot.
Jepchirchir won the gold medal in the women’s marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and was the champion at the 2016 and 2020 World Half Marathon Championships.
She claimed victories at the 2021 New York City and 2022 Boston Marathons and finished third at the 2023 London Marathon.
Jepchirchir further claimed a further victory at the 2024 London Marathon, finishing in two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds and breaking the women’s-only world record (that is, the world record for the fastest time by a female marathon runner without using male pacemakers).
Meanwhile, Tanzania’s Simbu will take on former Boston and London champion Sisay Lemma, defending Sydney champion Hailemaryam Kiros and a host of other sub-2:05 performers.
