The famous Millrose games provided yet another fast indoor race. Josh Hoey had improved himself spectacularly in 2024 and showed how he can be major force on the 800m. When he took the lead Bryce Hoppel, who finished fourth in the Olympic final in Paris last year in a new American record, settled in behind him. It seemed a matter of time before he would seize the lead and secure victory.

Not so. Although Hoppel ran a new personal best in a time faster than the previous American record, Josh grimly held on and not only finished first, he also beat Donavan Brazier's American record by 0.31 seconds.

His time of 1:43.90 lifts Hoey to number three on the all time indoor list, behind legend Wilson Kipketer and Elliot Giles. It was only the third time in history that three athletes ran below 1:44 in a single indoor race. And in sixth place young talent Cooper Lutkenhaus, just seventeen years old, ran a world best for the under eighteen category.

    Result:
 1  Josh Hoey           USA   1:43.90
 2  Bryce Hoppel        USA   1:44.19
 3  Jonah Koech         USA   1:44.82
 4  Mark English        IRL   1:45.15
 5  Alex Amankwah       GHA   1:45.82
 6  Cooper Lutkenhaus   USA   1:46.86
 7  Shane Cohen         USA   1:47.01

The Diamond League final in Brussels was the last race of a long season. It was a star-studded field, but the evening was chilly, so really fast times were not to be expected. But Wanyonyi seemed intent on winning the evening and finishing his season on a high.

The pacemaker did a decent job, but Marco Arop followed so eagerly that he passed the pacemaker just before the bell already, in 49.28. Arop may have hoped for a repeat of what happened in Silesia, but this time he was unable to run away from the field. Instead Wyclife Kinyamal, Djamel Sedjati and Emmanuel Wanyonyi stayed in close contention.

As they went into the final bend Wanyonyi seemed to lose touch a little, and Kinyamal seemed to run out of steam completely, so it was Sedjati who challenged for the lead, and as Arop was tiring Sedjati worked himself into the lead. But on the last fifty meters Wanyonyi suddenly sprinted forwards and overtook Sedjati with just two or three strides to go.

Another win for Wanyonyi in a near perfect season. Olympic Champion, Diamond League champion, he ran 1:41 four times (which had never been done before) and is now joint number two on the all time list. And he only just turned twenty last month!

    Result:
 1  Emmanuel Wanyonyi    KEN   1:42.70
 2  Djamel Sedjati       ALG   1:42.86
 3  Marco Arop           CAN   1:43.25
 4  Gabriel Tual         FRA   1:43.67
 5  Eliott Crestan       BEL   1:43.74
 6  Wyclife Kinyamal     KEN   1:44.00
 7  Andreas Kramer       SWE   1:44.30
 8  Tshepiso Masalela    BOT   1:44.34
 9  Ben Pattison         GBR   1:44.64

In Lausanne the race had turned out to be a battle between Marco Arop and Emmanuel Wanyonyi. But in Silesia the race followed a completely different pattern. Although in both cases Arop was following the pacemaker pretty closely.

But when the pacemaker dropped out Arop ran away at full speed, and no other runner was either willing or able to follow. Arop opened up a big lead, over ten metres, and did not seem to slow down at all. Into the final bend the gap was still there. Onto the final straight and still none of the others was able to get any closer. It was Arop all the way!

And so Arop finished all on his own, and set yet another 1:41 mark, the third of his career. Wanyonyi led the others home, but it was only 1.37 seconds behind Arop - in 800m terms that's almost like finishing next week. Perhaps some runners are getting tired after a long season, but in any case, Marco Arop was simply brilliant.

    Result:
 1  Marco Arop             CAN   1:41.86
 2  Emmanuel Wanyonyi      KEN   1:43.23
 3  Bryce Hoppel           USA   1:43.32
 4  Eliott Crestan         BEL   1:43.48
 5  Wyclife Kinyamal       KEN   1:43.54
 6  Gabriel Tual           FRA   1:43.73
 7  Max Burgin             GBR   1:43.73
 8  Hobbs Kessler          USA   1:43.97
 9  Andreas Kramer         SWE   1:44.32
10  Aaron Cheminingwa      KEN   1:44.60
11  Mohamed Attaoui        ESP   1:44.96
12  Bartosz Kitlinski      POL   1:45.56

Another meeting, another opportunity. Now that he is Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi has set his sights on improving David Rudisha's 1:40.91 World Record. Pacemaker in Lausanne was Ludovic Le Meur. He was asked for 49.2 and delivered 49.32. But it was Marco Arop who followed him closely as Wanyonyi left a small gap.

Arop was therefore in the lead once the pacemaker dropped out, but seemed to make a tactical error as he left quite a gap on the inside. On the back straight Wanyonyi did not hesitate and stormed through. Perhaps Arop was hoping to catch him on the home straight, but that hope soon proved to be futile, although Arop still managed to run the second 1:41 of his career.

Wanyonyi grimaced as he finished in 1:41.11. Faster once more, yet not quite fast enough. It's the exact same time that Wilson Kipketer ran in 1997 in Cologne, when he set a World Record that stood for thirteen years. Wanyonyi is now joint second on the alltime list. One wonders for how long.

    Result:
 1  Emmanuel Wanyonyi      KEN   1:41.11
 2  Marco Arop             CAN   1:41.72
 3  Gabriel Tual           FRA   1:42.30
 4  Bryce Hoppel           USA   1:42.63
 5  Pieter Sisk            BEL   1:43.48
 6  Catalin Tecuceanu      ITA   1:44.07
 7  Elliot Giles           GBR   1:44.32
 8  Mohamed Attaoui        ESP   1:45.40

He was expected to take the lead and he duly did. In an incredibly fast race young Kenyan talent Emmanuel Wanyonyi never looked back and led from start to finish, even if his lead on the line was only marginal.

Marco Arop and Djamel Sedjati held back in the first part of the race, and perhaps they didn't expect the race to be so fast after a first lap of 50.28. But Wanyonyi has shown he can run 1:41 after a fast first lap and even though Arop and Sedjati probably ran a negative split they couldn't catch Wanyonyi.

The race was so fast that several records tumbled. Never before had four athletes run a 1:41 in a single race. And seven athletes running 1:42 or faster had never happened before either. Bryce Hoppel ran a new national record by 0.67 of a second and still only came fourth.

But the day belonged to 20 year old Wanyonyi. He was raised in a village where running is considered unusual and soccer and rugby are the main sports. Olympic Gold has now comprehensively proven he made the right career choice.

    Result:
 1. Emmanuel Wanyonyi      KEN  1:41.19
 2. Marco Arop             CAN  1:41.20  
 3. Djamel Sedjati         ALG  1:41.50
 4. Bryce Hoppel           USA  1:41.67
 5. Mohamed Attaoui        ESP  1:42.08
 6. Gabriel Tual           FRA  1:42.14
 7. Tshepiso Masalela      BOT  1:42.82
 8. Max Burgin             GBR  1:43.84