Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi over the moon after welcoming first child
Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 09.06.26. | 17:31
Wanyonyi's absence from the Stockholm Diamond League over the weekend had raised eyebrows
Olympic and world 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi has every reason to smile after recently welcoming his first child.
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The Kenyan middle-distance star shared the exciting news at the Oslo Diamond League press conference, saying that his wife gave birth four days ago.
Going back, four days ago would be Friday, 5 June. Although he chose not to reveal the baby's name or gender, the 21-year-old could barely hide his joy as he spoke about becoming a father for the first time.
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Wanyonyi's absence from the Stockholm Diamond League over the weekend had raised eyebrows, but the reigning Olympic champion explained that family responsibilities took priority.
"I was supposed to run the Stockholm Diamond League, but I went home after the Rabat Diamond League. My wife delivered my firstborn, and I am so happy. Four days ago is when she delivered," the soft-spoken Wanyonyi said.
The heartwarming family milestone comes at a time when Wanyonyi is enjoying another impressive season on the track. He opened his 2026 Diamond League campaign in style at the Rabat Diamond League on Sunday, 31 May, storming to victory in 1:43.56.
Now a father of one, Wanyonyi will turn his attention back to competition when he lines up at the Oslo Diamond League on Wednesday, 10 June, where he will be aiming to successfully defend the title he won at the Norwegian meeting last year.
In 2025, Wanyonyi produced a powerful finishing kick to win the Oslo race in 1:42.78 ahead of Spain's Mohamed Attaoui (1:42.90) and Algeria's Djamel Sedjati (1:43.06).
However, retaining the crown will be far from straightforward, with longtime rival Marco Arop set to headline a strong field.
The Wanyonyi-Arop rivalry has developed into one of athletics' most fascinating battles over the past few seasons.
Their first major championship meeting came at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, where Wanyonyi narrowly missed the podium after finishing fourth.
A year later, the Kenyan edged Arop at the Paris Diamond League before the Canadian responded by claiming gold at the World Championships in Budapest, with Wanyonyi taking silver.
The pendulum continued to swing between the two stars, with Wanyonyi winning the 2023 Diamond League Final before producing arguably the defining moment of their rivalry at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
In one of the closest 800m finals in Olympic history, Wanyonyi captured gold in 1:41.19, holding off Arop by just one-hundredth of a second as the Canadian clocked 1:41.20.
Since then, the Kenyan has largely had the upper hand, defeating Arop in Monaco, London, Brussels, and Zurich before adding the world title to his growing collection at the World Championships in Tokyo.
There, Wanyonyi unleashed a devastating finishing sprint to win gold in 1:41.86 ahead of Sedjati (1:41.90) and Arop (1:41.95).