The Commonwealth Games 800m champion, Wycliffe Kinyamal aspires to fit into the shoes of David Rudisha, the world 800m record holder.
Kinyamal also intends to ensure the two-lap race dominance remains in his rural home in Poroko Village in Transmara County.
Athletes from Kabirisang village in Nandi County initially dominated men’s 800m supremacy. Former world record holder Kenyan-born-Dane Wilson Kipketer, former Africa champion Sammy Kosgei and 2008 Olympic champion Wilfred Bungei are among those athletes.
Kinyamal, who is also the Africa junior 800m bronze medalist, comes from a region with a rich 800m pedigree.
The athletes in this context include 1987 world championships sensation Stephen Ole Marai, two-time world 800m champion Billy Konchella, 2011 World Youth champion Leonard Kosencha among others.
“I participated in high jump while in secondary school. After school, I stayed at home for some time before my friend Leshan Togom advised me to take up athletics. I heeded the advise," the Commonwealth Games 800m champion revealed.
He added, “I started training in early 2016 and that I made the team to Africa Junior Championships where I won bronze medal. That motivated me to go Keringet Athletics Training Camp in Nakuru County. I later relocated to Global Sports Communications camp in Kaptagat.”
He displayed impressive performances in 2017
at the European track circuit where he got a personal best of 1:43.94 in the Rialto meeting which boosted his credentials, establishing him as an elite runner.
Kinyamal, 23, won his first global title at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia. Unfortunately, a long-term back injury that saw him miss the 2019 World Championships in Doha halted his rapid rise to stardom in athletics.
He said, “My lower back injury gave me a setback, it was painful missing the World Championships in Doha after winning my first medal at Commonwealth. I was confident but my plans were reigned with the injury.”
However, The postponement of 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to the Covid-19 pandemic gave him an opportunity to bounce back, hoping cut the Kenyan team.
“I’m back in training and my Olympic plans are on the right track. I have competed in a few local races. I can say it’s responding pretty well. My dream of replacing David (Rudisha) is still on. I really want to achieve this,” said Kinyamal.
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