“Relax! There’s no cause for alarm…. Kenyans will celebrate on Sunday night.” That’s the reassuring message from Olympic 800 metres champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi ahead of tonight’s (Sunday, September 13) final of the two-lap race at the Ultimate Championship here.
Wanyonyi played mind games on Saturday, narrowly securing the final automatic qualifying spot by finishing fourth in one minute, 44.43 behind winner Brandon Miller (1:43.86) in the semi-final, conserving energy after a grueling season.
Veteran Julius Yego will also be in action tonight, the former world javelin champion hoping to end the season on a high, and reap the handsome financial rewards that come with the new Ultimate Championship.
Yego praised the technological developments and innovation that has been employed by World Athletics at these ground-breaking championships, including the “smart javelin” that adds value for television viewing and athlete analysis.
Kenya will also feature in the mixed 4x400m relay final tonight (Sunday) from 7.53pm (8.53pm, Kenyan time). With no heats and no second chances, the first Ultimate mixed 4x400m title will come down to one race, the final.
The World Relays in Botswana in May provided the main qualification route for the Ultimate Championship, with the first six teams in Gaborone earning automatic invitations before further places were decided through the top lists with Kenya qualifying and Ultimate host nation Hungary joining the field through an exceptional invitation.
Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi takes off in the 800 metres semi-final of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Saturday. he is eying victory in tonight’s final. (Photo / Courtesy Buiaar)
Jakob Ingebrigtsen out of 1,500m
Meanwhile, the field for the 1,500m final (9.12pm Kenyan time) will be open after 5,000m champion, Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen officially withdrew from the race, abandoning his historic distance double attempt after winning the 5,000m on Friday.
His high-profile absence blows the field wide open for Team Kenya's powerhouse duo: veteran tactical master Timothy Cheruiyot and explosive young phenomenon Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech. Both Kenyans are now heavily favored to outrun global rivals Josh Kerr and Cole Hocker to claim the ultimate crown and the $150,000 (Sh19.5 million) victory prize.
Ethiopia will dominate the women’s 5,000m final from 8.10pm with Freweyni Hailu, Likina Amebaw, Senayet Getachew, Aleshign Baweke, Fantaye Belayneh and Hirut Meshesha all expected to feature in the procession.
In the 800m semis on Saturday, Wanyonyi champion bypassed his usual front-running style for a conservative, mid-pack approach that safely advanced him to the high-stakes final sending jitters down his legion of fans back home in Kenya.
He later told Pura Vida Sports Africa that he very much knew what he was doing. “It was a tactical race… Those (finishing fourth) were my tactics to preserve energy for tomorrow’s (tonight’s) final,” Wanyonyi explained.
“I didn’t want to use too much energy getting into the final. These guys were running fast to qualify but I didn’t want to go with their pace. I just wanted to qualify then in the final we shall see who is king!.”
Asked if Kenyans should wait to uncork champagne bottles or fill their beer glasses, he had a quick answer: “Obviously, they should.”
Blockbuster 900m Clash
Tonight’s final at 7:41pm, local time (8.41pm Kenyan time) features a blockbuster clash spearheaded by Wanyonyi, 2023 world champion Marco Arop, alongside in-form continental stars like 2026 European champion Mark English who is recovering from injury and featuring in his first global final.
"This year is one of big progression for me. I have never made a final before on the global stage, that is why everything from this moment onwards is going to be bonus territory. It's a big stepping stone for me. I stopped being a doctor a few years ago, so I'm full-time at the athletics now and I really need to be because the quality of the 800m has skyrocketed through the roof,” English said.
Former World javelin champion Julius Yego takes a selfie during the athletes’ interaction session with accredited media and influencers ahead of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest last Thursday. Yego has praised technological developments introduced in the javelin throw implements. (Photo / Elias Makori)
Sizzling semifinal winners Brandon Miller, and World Indoor silver medalist Eliott Crestan and Algerian powerhouse Djamel Sedjati inject serious speed into the field with the winner banking $150,000 (Sh19.5 million).
There has been an avalanche of innovations at the Ultimate Championship with World Athletics working on making the sport more attractive to younger fans, with influencers and content creators accredited in droves to make the narrative “trendeable.”
Among the innovations is the “TDK smart javelin” - manufactured by Japanese company, TDK Corporation’ – which is equipped with TDK sensors to visualise performance data.
Improvements to the sensor module and software have enabled TDK to analyse and visualise the javelin’s movement in real time. While conventional competition results record the distance of each throw, the sensor technology can provide additional data on factors such as release angle, rotation, speed, height and flight trajectory.
This information can give athletes greater insight into their technique and performance, while the visualisations can also help spectators better understand the technical and physical demands of javelin throwing.
Kenya’s former 1,500 metres world champion Timothy Cheruiyot (left) and relay team member Boniface Mweresa at the National Athletics Stadium in Budapest. They will both be in action tonight. (Photo / Elias Makori)
Smart Javelin to ‘Critically Benefit Athletes’
Yego welcomes these developments: “Viewers and spectators will now be able to see and know what really happens in javelin throwing in real time. Most often people thought javelin is just running down the runway and throwing the javelin, not knowing that it’s actually more than “power throwing” but more of technique supplemented with little power.”
Yego is no stranger to innovation technology in sport, having taken up the javelin through self tutorials on YouTube, earning the nickname “YouTube Man.”
The 2015 World Champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalists added the new technology would critically benefit the athletes themselves. “It will be good for technique correction also to aid coaches and athletes. Real time technical airing of the javelin throws and what entails the throw obviously will be a must-watch on the screens!”
Yego recently announced he would be calling time on his Commonwealth Games career, having won two Commonwealth Games medals (one gold and one bronze) across his historic career in which he made history as the first Kenyan athlete to win a Commonwealth Games title in a field event.
He is happy to be part of the inaugural Ultimate Championship. “I am happy that event is happening in our lifetime even though it is coming towards the end of my career! It’s a game changer and you can already see and feel that athletes are all psyche up.”
Assured of $10,000 (Sh1.3 million) for an eighth-place finish, even before his first throw, Yego doesn’t mind the prize money that comes with the Ultimate Championship.
“Apart from offering the epic show at the stadium to the fans and athletes, of course it (cash award) is an incentive to be happy about. Athletes have been doing a lot for the sport but I do feel the reward was not equal to the sweat and dedication the sport carries. It is now paying, yes, and we will enjoy and want it to continue and even for the pay to be higher pay in future championships.”
Tonight’s (Sunday, September 13) programme on the final day of the Ultimate Championship in Budapest highlighting key African athletes in action (in East African Time):
- 19:08 EAT – Women's 400m Hurdles Final;
- 19:13 EAT – Men's Javelin Throw Final (Julius Yego, Kenya);
- 19:18 EAT – Men's 200m Semi-Final (Letsile Tebogo, Botswana)
- 19:36 EAT – Men's 400m Hurdles Final;
- 19:44 EAT – Women's 200m Semi-Final;
- 20:04 EAT – Men's High Jump Final;
- 20:10 EAT – Women's 5,000m Final ; Freweyni Hailu, Likina Amebaw, Senayet Getachew, Aleshign Baweke, Fantaye Belayneh, Hirut Meshesha, all Ethiopia);
- 20:34 EAT – Women's Triple Jump Final;
- 20:41 EAT – Men's 800m Final (Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Kenya);
- 20:53 EAT – Mixed 4x400m Relay Final (Botswana, Kenya)
- 21:12 EAT – Men's 1,500m Final (Timothy Cheruiyot, Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech, Kenya);
- 21:38 EAT – Men's 200m Final (Pending semi-final qualification)
- 21:49 EAT – Women's 200m Final (Pending semi-final qualification)
(Additional reporting by World Athletics)
