Kenya’s Olympic Medalist and 800m athlete Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who recently dazzled fans with a sensational victory at the 2024 Olympic Games, opened up on how his rise to athleticism was marked with struggles that almost made him give up.
The Olympian disclosed that it was a friend’s generous donation of a pair of running shoes that jump-started his running career and changed his perception at a time when he was living in abject poverty due to his background.
Wanyonyi revealed that growing up, he could not afford some basic needs like a pair of shoes. However, when he visited a friend and saw him displaying his several pairs of shoes, he decided to borrow them.
‘’There was a friend of mine called Kibe who owned a pair of shoes. One day during my running sessions, I found him displaying the shoes and I was prompted to ask him what the shoes were meant for,’’ Wanyonyi recounted.
‘’At first, he thought that I was joking about the issue but when I insisted, he promised to give me a single pair of shoes and a pair of shorts,’’ he added.
He further noted that when he wore his first pair, and having learnt that they were running shoes, he was compelled to convert his hobby to a full-time career, first by convincing a school to allow him to compete in games on its behalf.
‘’I had never attempted running even for a day and never even thought of it, so he (the friend) managed to persuade me to wake up the following morning and join him at a local track,’’
‘’On that first day, I ran but I was not tired and my friend even told me to relax because he thought that I had covered a long distance during the training,’’ he narrated.
At first, his racing did not pick up easily, and encountered muscle pains but did not back down.
‘’The following day, my feet really pained me but that did not distract me from my goal because I was convinced that if I rested, then the pain could worsen,’’ he recalled.
Wanyonyi further noted that he did not have an opportunity to attend school in his early years. He, as a result, was looked down upon as a mentally disturbed individual.
This, however, did not deter him from chasing his dream and participated in training at a local school, eventually convincing them that he could represent the school.
Return to school
Teachers at the local school later insisted that he had to enroll as a learner before they could allow him to interact with other students. He borrowed a uniform and re-enrolled in class 7.
‘’The last time that I was in a school, I was a class 3 pupil and I was confused planning to rejoin school years later,’’ he stated.
The medalist further recounted that the start of his athletic career was not an easy one but his self conviction was unwavering.
‘’I was really struggling at first because training was really hard but I convinced myself to a point that I even got sick in 2017 and I stopped running for a while,’’ he added.
The 20-year-old has so far won the Olympic title, Diamond League final victory, world championship silver medal, and U20 world championship title in the 800 meters.