Wanyonyi in shock defeat to Britain's Burgin in Rabat Diamond League
Emmanuel Wanyonyi celebrate winning the 800m finals during the National Trials for Olympic Games Paris 2024 held at the Nyayo National Stadium on June 15, 2024. Photo/Sportpicha
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Briton Max Burgin stunned Olympic 800 metres champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi in the Rabat Diamond League meeting on Sunday while Kenny Bednarek eased to a supremely comfortable 200m win over Letsile Tebogo.
Burgin,
24, who was earmarked as a future world or Olympic medallist when he broke
through the youth ranks before injuries hampered his progress, was simply too
strong for Wanyonyi, the man who last year came close to breaking David Rudisha's
14-year-old world record.
The
British athlete's win in 1min 42.98sec, over half a second faster than
Wanyonyi's 1:43.56, suggests he can aim for something special at the main event
of the season, the new World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest in
September.
Wanyonyi
said he realised he is the man to shoot at now: "I expected a race like
this where someone would push me to my maximum. The race was so good, my
fastest of the season. At the same time, it was very tough."
Bednarek
blew away the men's 200m field to win in 19.69sec, a meeting record, as
reigning Olympic champion Tebogo lumbered out of his blocks before the
Botswanan found his running to break 20 seconds for the first time this season.
"Obviously,
there are the Ultimate Championships. You are going to see fast times and good
competitions out there. I like competing so I can't wait for another
year," said American Bednarek.
The
men's 3,000m steeplechase, the final event of the evening, was fittingly won by
Morocco's two-time Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali who clocked a
world-leading time for the year of 7:57.25.
Geordie
Beamish, the New Zealander who created a huge shock by pipping El Bakkali to
gold at last year's world championships in Tokyo, finished a distant 13th.
American
Yared Nuguse dug deep to hold off fast-finishing world champion Isaac Nader of
Portugal in 3:30.35 in a high-quality men's 1500 metres.
In the
women's equivalent, Ethiopia's Freweyni Hailu unleashed a decisive final lap to
win the sixth Diamond League race of her career in 3:58.25.
In the
men's 400 metres, Jacory Patterson set a meeting record of 44.11sec in front of
Britain's Olympic silver medallist from Paris, Matt Hudson-Smith, who clocked
44.25 in his season-opening race.
Quincy
Hall, the man who beat Hudson-Smith to that 2024 Olympic title but who was
beset by hamstring injuries last year, showed he still has a long way to go in
his recovery as he trailed in last.
Tina
Clayton powered to victory in the women's 100m, leading home a Jamaican 1-2-3
with a time of 10.85sec.
Audrey
Werro, the Swiss athlete who made such an impressive breakthrough last year,
was an impressive winner of the women's 800m in 1min 56.56sec, leaving the
reigning world champion Lilian Odira of Kenya in third.
Tobi
Amusan of Nigeria blasted to victory in the women's 100m hurdles and Ukrainian
world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh took the women's high jump after
clearing 1.97m.
Sri
Lankan javelin specialist Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage is the top-ranked thrower
of the year but the 23-year-old had to bow to two-time world champion Anderson
Peters of Grenada. Pathirage threw 85.97 metres to Peters' winning effort of
86.08m.

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