The Olympic 800m champion broke a 27-year-old record in his first-ever race over the distance.

Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi delivered another historic performance on Friday, setting a new men’s 1,000 meters world record at the Monaco Diamond League in his debut over the rarely contested distance.

The 21-year-old clocked an astonishing 2:11.83, eclipsing the previous world record of 2:11.96 set by fellow Kenyan Noah Ngeny in 1999. The record had stood for more than a quarter of a century, making Wanyonyi’s achievement one of the most significant performances of the 2026 athletics season.

Wanyonyi crossed the finish line nearly a second ahead of Jake Wightman of Great Britain, while Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati finished third.

Speaking after the race, the Kenyan star expressed his delight at making history in his first attempt at the distance.

“It was my first time running the 1,000 metres, so breaking the world record makes me incredibly happy,” Wanyonyi said, while also thanking his fellow competitors for helping push him to the landmark performance.

Already the reigning Olympic and world 800 meters champion, Wanyonyi has firmly established himself as one of the world’s leading middle-distance athletes.

His latest record not only reinforces Kenya’s enduring dominance in middle-distance running but also brings to an end one of the longest-standing men’s world records in athletics.

Although the 1,000 meters is not part of the Olympic Games or World Athletics Championships program, the performance highlighted Wanyonyi’s remarkable speed, endurance, and versatility, further strengthening his credentials ahead of the remainder of the 2026 track and field season.

The world-record run is expected to boost confidence within Kenyan athletics as the country continues to produce elite middle-distance talent capable of redefining the sport on the global stage.