Most Kenyan runners including the legendary Eliud Kipchoge and Faith Kipyegon have had to overcome many obstacles in order to thrive in the competitive field.
800 metre sensation Emmanuel Wanyonyi is no different and falls into that category as his journey to the top of the athletics world has been full of ups and downs but one that he has managed to overcome through sheer determination.
According to him, he dropped out of school while in class three and went to look for manual jobs because he could not withstand seeing his family suffering.
“I got a job in a place called Kitalale in Kitale. I used to earn Ksh 350 to herd four cattle and I did the job for one month. I remember my family did not bother to find out where I had gone because I had dropped out of school,” he disclosed during an interview on NTV.
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Wanyonyi added that he did the job for the one month before deciding to go back home where he found a similar job that paid 200 shillings.
However, he ended up having a huge debt of about five hundred at the end of the month since her mother used to take goods in debt from the shop that his employees owned.
“After a while, I left and went to Kitale town, a place called Matisi. I used to herd cattle for 1000 per month at a homestead there.
However, I was not paid at the end of the month. So, I left and went back home, where I found another job to herd cattle for about four months, because I left Kitale around 2014,” he continued.
Emmanuel Wanyonyi celebrates winning gold in Paris 2024
According to the 20-year-old, he stayed home with his parents in 2015 before moving to Bungoma, a small town located in Western part of Kenya in 2016.
In Bungoma, he continued to work as a cattle herder while saving a big percentage of the 2000 shillings that he was earning at the end of every four weeks.
The wise decision paid off, since he was able to go back home and construct a small flat roof house.
However, life became harder since he had to dig other people’s firms alongside her mother in order to put food on the table.
True to the saying all suffering has an end, Wanyonyi’s athletic journey started in 2017 when he saw a friend training and decided to request for a running shoe from him.
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He started to train with the friend before asking some of the teachers at the local primary school to give him an opportunity to represent them in inter-school games.
The 2024 Diamond League winner stated that although the school did not accept him at first, he went back the next day, where he landed the golden opportunity without even enrolling as a student.
After representing the learning institution and performing well, Wanyonyi had no option but to start studying.
“I was later forced to go and stay in class when I reached the county level. So, I went and asked my friends to give me a school uniform and went straight to class seven. I struggled in class. I was in class seven but it looked like I was in nursery school because I had started afresh,” he explained.
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Wanyonyi went on to narrate that despite being discouraged by some individuals to leave school, he did not give up. His perseverance eventually paid off in 2018 when he met the Kosirai Secondary School Principal during a sports event.
“It was during the nationals that I met the Kosirai Secondary School Principal who asked me to join the school because he had seen my talent. He told me that whatever marks I get in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams, I would join the school with it,” he stated.
According to him, while he was at Kosirai Secondary School, he pumped into former Kenyan runner Janet Jepkosgei, who introduced him to the famous Italian coach Claudio Berardelli.
However, at first, Berardelli did not believe he was talented, thus Wanyonyi had to do his best to win his trust and the rest is history – the highly-rated runner went to achieve incredible success and is the current 800m Olympic champion, 2-time Diamond League winner and 2023 World Silver medalist.
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Applicants are urged to submit their applications through www.tujiamini.co.ke