19-year-old Emmanuel Wanyonyi on Saturday, April 27 broke the World Road Mile record at the Adizero Road to Records event in Herzogenaurach, Germany.
The 800m silver medalist, crossed the line in 3 minutes 54 seconds and 5 milliseconds in what was his debut for the mile race breaking the previous record which stood at 3:56.13, set by USAs Hobbs Kessler.
Coming in second place was the previous record holder Kessler finishing in 3:56.1, while South Africa’s Ryan Mphahlele came in third in 3:56.4.
The previous record was set by USA’s Hobbs Kessler at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23 in October.
The road mile was officially recognized as a world record discipline in September 2023, which puts Wanyonyi's performance as a landmark.
In the 800m road race, which happened immediately after the Mile race, Canada’s Marca Arop won clocking 1 minute and 45 seconds. Arop beat Kenya’s Wanyonyi in the same race at Budapest in 2023.
Representing the country in the 10km race, 23-year-old Agnes Ng'etich clocked 30:03, just two seconds off the record set by the late Agnes Tirop at the same event in 2021.
Emmanuel Wanyoyi's Recent Races
In the recent Kip Keino Classic held at Nairobi's Nyayo Stadium, Wanyonyi maintained his title by clocking 1 minute and 45 seconds.
Opening the 2024 season in style, the 800 silver medalist dominated the men’s 2km race at Sirikwa Classic Cross-country in Eldoret.
He clocked in at 5:41.20 ahead of Victor Kipkirui who cut came in second at 5:42:10.
Coming in third at the tightly run race at the Lobo village, was Edwin Kiprono who clocked a respective 5:45.90.
In 2023, Wanyonyi was nominated for the year's Rising Star Awards World Athletics Awards 2023.
