Emmanuel Wanyonyi/ FILEOlympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi and the 2015 world javelin gold medallist Julius Yego hope to launch their World Championship campaigns on a flying note.
The men’s 800m heats take centre stage at 1:35 pm today (Kenyan time), while the men’s javelin qualification rounds are slated for tomorrow (Wednesday) at 1:10 p.m.
Wanyonyi heads into the Tokyo showdown with his sights firmly set on upgrading his Budapest 2023 silver medal.
In the Hungarian capital, the 21-year-old stormed to second place in 1:44.53 behind Canada’s Marco Arop (1:44.24).
“I plan to make sure I make the finals in Tokyo,” Wanyonyi had said earlier.
The Kenyan two-lap sensation arrives as the fastest man in the world this year, courtesy of his 1:41.44 triumph at the Monaco Diamond League.
He is the only man in 2025 to have clocked a sub-1:42. However, he insists that medals — not times — will define this championship.
“The championship is all about tactics, and the medal is more important than time,” Wanyonyi said.
With 15 men having dipped under 1:43 this season, the men’s two-lap contest promises to be one of the fiercest races in Tokyo.
Wanyonyi is buoyed by his Zurich Diamond League final victory, where he outkicked Britain’s Max Burgin (1:42.42) and Arop (1:42.57) to claim the trophy in 1:42.37.
That win earned him a third consecutive Diamond League finals trophy, following previous triumphs in 2023 (1:42.80) and 2024 (1:42.70).
His 2025 campaign began with a 2km loop victory at the National Cross Country Championships in Eldoret, where he cut the tape in 6:14.
He followed it up with the Kingston Grand Slam on April 6, winning the 1,500m in 3:35.18 and placing second in the 800m (1:46.44).
On April 26, he claimed a one-mile victory at the Adidas Adizero Road to Records, stopping the clock in 3:52.45.
In the Diamond League, he finished third in the opener in Rabat (1:43.37), before clinching victories in Oslo (1:42.78), Stockholm (1:41.95), Monaco (1:41.44), and London (1:42.00). He placed second in Lausanne (1:43.29).
Meanwhile, Yego chases a return to his golden days, aiming to summon the form that crowned him world champion in Beijing 2015 with a mammoth 92.72m effort.
That mark still stands as the Kenyan and African record.
Now 36, the self-styled “YouTube Man” has declared his intent to return home with a medal.
“I promise that I will come back home with a medal,” Yego said during the flag handover at State House, Nairobi.
Yego has had a fruitful build-up to the global bonanza.
Unlike last year, when he managed only three throws beyond 80m before the Paris Olympics, Yego has breached that barrier seven times in 2025.
He launched his season with a modest ninth-place finish (78.52m) in Doha, before struggling again at the Kip Keino Classic on May 31, where he placed ninth, again, in 74.71m.
On June 11 at the Motonet GP meet, he uncorked a season-best 82.95m to win, then improved that mark with an 83.08m throw at the Turku Continental Meet.
He raised his season best on July 5 at the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic in India, launching an 84.51m throw for silver behind Chopra (86.18m).
Yego later ended a nine-year drought in the Diamond League circuit by winning in Silesia on August 16 with a throw of 82.54m.
