Korir wins Diamond League in new World lead in Zürich
The career of Emmanuel Korir has been a story of running fast at exactly the right moments. Last year he collected Olympic gold. Earlier this season he was at his best to win the World Championship. And although he lost last week in Brussels he showed his timing once more when the stakes were high at the last Diamond League meeting in Zürich .
The pace was pretty fast, but that didn't daunt Korir in the slightest. He watched from afar how the pacemaker dropped out. He made his way through the field when Jake Wightman, the man who beat him last week, went to the front. He was closer already when Marco Arop found an extra gear and seemed to take an unassailable lead.
And then Korir made his move. He went past Wightman in a flash. Then gained rapidly on the tiring Arop and passed him just a few meters before the finish. Job done, timed to perfection, Diamond League victory ensured and a new world leading time on top of that. There is little doubt now that Korir is currently the greatest 800m runner by far.
Result: 1 Emmanuel Korir KEN 1:43.26 2 Marco Arop CAN 1:43.38 3 Jake Wightman GBR 1:44.10 4 Wycliffe Kinyamal KEN 1:44.47 5 Bryce Hoppel USA 1:44.77 6 Andreas Kramer SWE 1:44.94 7 Gabriel Tual FRA 1:45.25 8 Benjamin Robert FRA 1:48.11