Newly-crowned Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Korir admits he is relieved to have brought the crown back home after an energy-sapping race at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.
Korir said he felt obligated to follow in the footsteps of David Rudisha who clinched gold in the past two editions in 2012 and 2016 in London and Rio de Janeiro respectively.
"I felt a little bit pressure from home because everyone expected something good. Rudisha won in 2012 and 2016 and so I was asking myself whether I would make it. I saw that the race was slow and so I decided to push it in the last 100m to see if I could make it and I am glad I won gold for myself and for the whole country," Korir said.
The African silver medalist clocked 1:45.06 to finish ahead of compatriot Ferguson Rotich (1:45.23) and Polish Patryk Dobek (1:45.39) in second and third respectively.
In his characteristic head-bob running style, Korir out-sprinted Dobek and Australian Peter Bol who had been at the head of the pack until the last lap.
He admitted he had to take charge and dictate the pace of the race after observing that it was slow.
"I had expected the race to record some really fast times but then I noticed that it was slow. No one was really ready to carry the cross so I decided to control the pace and see if I could maybe take off in the last 100m. I didn't know Ferguson was also behind me even as I pushed myself towards the finish line,"he said.
Rudisha was among countless Kenyans to congratulate the duo for their exemplary performance in an otherwise disappointing outing for Team Kenya.
"Back to Kenya! We retain gold in 4 straight Olympic games in 800m men. Congratulations Emmanuel Korir and Ferguson Rotich," the world record holder, with a time of 1:40.91, said. On his part, Rotich was grateful for his best ever result in an international championship.
"In Rio, I finished fifth and this time I have won silver so for me it is an upgrade. This goes to show that I am moving in the right direction and the future is bright. As the race was heading into the last lap, I remembered that my target was to be on the podium and thus pushed myself to the end," the world bronze medalist said.
