Emmanuel Wanyonyi: Tshepiso Masalela Beats Olympic Champion in Rabat Diamond League
- Emmanuel Wanyonyi was handed a rare defeat as he finished third in the men's 800m at the Rabat Diamond League
- Botswana's Tshepiso Masalela took down the Olympic champion with a brilliant kick in the second half of the race for a major win
- Masalela won by setting a new meeting record, beating the time of 1:43.58 set by Ethiopian Aman Mohammed in 2012
Tshepiso Masalela produced a remarkable performance to beat Emmanuel Wanyonyi at the Rabat Diamond League in Morocco on May 25.
Source: Getty Images
The Botswana athlete led the men's 800m almost from start to finish, to record the surprise result at the packed Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah.
Wanyonyi third in Rabat Diamond League
Wanyonyi has only competed twice globally this year, but was the overwhelming favourite to win the race. The Kenyan is the reigning Olympic champion.
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However, Masalela had different ideas as he set a new meeting record in Rabat. Wanyonyi was forced to settle for third as Max Burgin took second place.
Wanyonyi employed different tactics as he uncharacteristically sat back heading into the last lap. Masalela injected pace with Wanyonyi's late comeback proving futile. He clocked 1:43.37 just behind Burgin's 1:43.34.
Masalela won the race with a time of 1:43:70, which is now a new meeting record.
"It was good, I want to thank myself today. When I went for it, I got it done. I am so proud of myself. Before the race, I just wanted to make sure that whatever happens, I can take it on. I started well, I followed the pacemaker, and then I went and took the win.
"I changed a lot from last year, my coach has been trying so many things. I need to call him. Maybe I will be racing end of June, but first my coach is going to kill me now for a couple of sessions."
Source: Getty Images
Briton Burgin set a new personal best, which he attributed to the perfect execution of his race plan.
"For once I didn´t want to go in the front but of course it´s exactly what happened. It slowed up a little bit, so I was assessing and I tried to win, I hit on pretty well. I knew that I was capable of running a personal best. Last year not everything was going well with training, so with all we have done so far in training I knew that I could do it."
How much Wanyonyi won at Grand Slam Track
Earlier in the season, Wanyonyi competed in the inaugural edition of the Grand Slam Track, where he was roped in as one of the challengers.
The Olympic champion went down to Kingston, Jamaica, where he won in 1500m before winning the 800m to win the overall Grand Slam Track title, earning a tidy sum of KSh 12.6 million.
Omanayala second in Rabat
In a separate report, Ferdinand Omanyala was second in the men's 100m in the Rabat Diamond League.
It was another decent outing for the Commonwealth champion, but he couldn't get one over Akani Simbine.
Simbine won the race and remains unbeaten this season.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
