Reigning Olympic and World 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi will open his 2026 800m campaign at the Rabat Diamond League on May 31, marking his first race over the distance this season as the 2026 Diamond League heads to Africa for its third meeting of the year.
Wanyonyi arrives in Rabat with strong early-season form after a confident and dominant outing at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi on April 24, where he stepped down to the 1,500m and delivered a personal best of 3:34.11 in a front-running victory.
Having won the Diamond League overall trophy a record three times, Wanyonyi will be up against Olympic finalist Max Burgin, Ireland’s Mark English among 10 others in Rabat as he looks to replicate his 2025 campaign where began he had a stellar campaign beginning in June with a commanding victory in Oslo, stopping the clock at 1:42.77, before he immediately raised the stakes in Stockholm by becoming the first man of the year to break the 1:42 barrier with a world-leading 1:41.95.
By July 2025, Wanyonyi found an even higher gear, shaving fractions off his own world lead with a blistering 1:41.44 in Monaco and following it up in London with a thrilling, meeting-record finish of 1:42.00 that saw him edge out his fierce rival, Marco Arop, in the final stretch. The crowning moment of his flawless season came in August at the Zurich Final, where Wanyonyi clocked 1:42.37 to successfully defend his 800m Diamond League crown
The women’s 800m will also draw attention, with world champion Lilian Odira set for only her second-ever Diamond League appearance. Odira, who made her debut in Silesia last year, has already shown strong early-season intent in 2026 after opening her campaign at the Kip Keino Classic, where she finished second in 1:59.15 as she continues to build toward peak form.
Veteran javelin thrower Julius Yego will also compete in the men’s javelin in Rabat after recently securing a record sixth African title with a throw of 79.87m at the African Championships in Ghana.
The Rabat meeting, officially the Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athlétisme, is the third leg of the 2026 Diamond League season, which began in Shanghai/Keqiao on May 16 and will conclude with the two-day final in Brussels on September 4–5.
