Emmanuel Wanyonyi says he had to heed David Rudisha’s advice to win the gold medal in the 800M final in Paris on Saturday night.The 20-year-old ensured Kenya retained its medal in the Olympics for the fifth time in a row by beating a talented field that included Marco Arop of Canada, who won the silver medal, and Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati, who, until yesterday, had been unbeaten this year and had to settle for bronze.##NAJAVA_MECA_8262744##The gold was the only medal Kenya’s men’s team won in Paris, continuing the tradition of Kenya winning it at the Olympics for the last 16 years. Wilfred Bungei won it in Beijing in 2008, followed by Rudisha, who won it back-to-back in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016. Emmanuel Korir then secured it in Tokyo 2020.To win the medal, Wanyonyi took charge of the race from start to finish, beating Arop, whose final kick did not help him as the Kenyan sailed through.Wanyonyi revealed that a conversation with two-time Olympic gold medallist Rudisha led him to take a different approach in the final. He believes that had he stayed behind the pack, he would have lost the race.“It was going to be hard to defend as the only Kenyan in the final. I had a lot of pressure. I spoke to David Rudisha yesterday, who told me I would win if I employed my tactics. I decided to run the way he did in London. If I had run a slow race, they would have beaten me,” Wanyonyi stated.Paris Olympics: Can Lokedi pull a Tola to deliver on Team Kenya debut?He added that the race was far from comfortable, highlighting that the Algerian was the man to beat.“This race was tough. I felt more pressure because I knew it was not easy. Sedjati is not easy to beat—he’s a tough guy. So I needed to run very fast; that’s why I led from the start to the finish. It was not easy for me.”Kenya’s Paris campaign comes to a close on Sunday morning, with the women’s marathon on the cards.Paris Olympics: 20 year old Emmanuel Wanyonyi wins Kenya’s fifth consecutive 800m gold
