Emmanuel Wanyonyi (20) looked in great shape on Friday as he won his semi-final from gun to tape to move into the Olympic 800-metre final where he will hope to make it five in a row for Kenya.
Wanyonyi, silver medallist at last year’s world championship, was pushed at the end by American Bryce Hoppel but ensured he crossed the line first in 1:43.32 minutes.
Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati was an impressive winner of the first heat in 1:45.08, as was Canada’s world champion Marco Arop (1:45.05) in the second.
Max Burgin ran a personal best 1:43.50 to be the only one of three British semi-finalists to progress, while Gabriel Tual carries French hopes after also going through.
With none of the Tokyo medallists in the field and the eight finalists coming from eight different countries, it looks to be one of the most unpredictable races of the whole programme.
