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Wanyonyi to kickstart Diamond League campaign in Rabat this weekend
Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 30.05.26. | 09:07
The 24-year-old finished third in the race last year
World and Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi will kickstart his 2026 Diamond League season this weekend, when he lines up for the Rabat Diamond League event at the Meeting International Mohammed VI in Rabat on Sunday, 31 May.
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The 24-year-old, who won his third Diamond League title last year, will run in his usual 800m event, making it his first time to do so, this season.
The Kenyan, following a hugely successful 2025, has only run once this year, stunning heavyweight names to winning the 1,500m event at the Kip Keino Classic on Friday, 24 April.
Then, Wanyonyi, who has over time expressed his desire to climb up to longer distances, surged to a 3:34.11 win, beating race favorites Reynold Cheruiyot and world champion Timothy Cheruiyot.
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And just like last year, the Rabat event will provide his first go in the Diamond League series, where he will look to lay an early marker.
In the published entry list, Wanyonyi is set to come up against a couple of big names, including: three-time Diamond League meet winner Slimane Moula, 2024 European champion Gabriel Tual, and Ireland's Mark English, who has already taken a win in the series this year, following his stunning finish in Shanghai on Saturday, 16 May.
Other interesting names will be those of America’s Donavan Brazier, and Great Britain’s Max Burgin, who managed to beat Wanyonyi in Rabat last year.
On that night, Burgin trailed Botswana’s Tshepiso Masalela to finish second, and place above Wanyonyi, who finished in a time of 1:43.37.
Revenge will surely be on the cards this time around, even as the Kenyan looks to add to his astonishing 12 Diamond League wins with a fourth victory on the Moroccan capital.
Rabat will form the third leg of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League, which began in Shanghai/Keqiao on 16 May, and ends at the two-day series final in Brussels on 4-5 September.
Sunday’s two-lap race begins at 10:45PM Kenyan time.