Olympic Games 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi will be the only hope for Kenya at the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
Wanyoyni, who won silver two years ago in Budapest will be facing off with Marco Arop, the reigning champion at the finals set for Saturday September 20th.
In a thrilling semifinal today, Wanyonyi finished second in the last heat of the semifinals while Arop won in his heat to automatically qualify.
Wanyonyi finished second in 1:43.47 behind Spain’s Mohamed Attaoui in 1:43.18 as Jamaica’s Navasky Anderson came third in 1:43.72.
Arop and Djamel Sedjati crossed the finish line in 1:45.09 to advanced automatically with Ireland Mark English coming third at 1:45.47.
The result means the eight-man final will feature: Arop (Canada), Sedjati (Algeria), McPhillips (Ireland), Burgin (Great Britain), Attaoui (Spain), Wanyonyi (Kenya), Anderson (Jamaica), and Brazier (USA).