Emmanuel Korir

Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir is a Kenyan middle-distance runner. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and 2022 [World Athletics Championships|2022 World] champion in the 800 metres. Korir won the silver medal in the event at the 2018 [African Championships in Athletics].
As of December 2024 he was ranked as the twelfth fastest athlete of all time over the 800 m, with a personal best of 1:42.05. Korir is a three-time Diamond League champion at the event.

Career

In 2013, athletics coach Brother Colm O’Connell, who was also based in Iten in Kenya, convinced Emmanuel Korir to switch from shorter sprints to the 400 metres.
After 1:46.94 run in the finals of the 2016 Kenyan Championships, he was offered a scholarship at the University of Texas in El Paso, Texas in the USA. While at UTEP Miners, he was coached by the Olympic 800 m champion Paul Ereng.
In January 2017, Korir set an indoor world record for the 600 metres. The same year, he left the UTEP for a professional running contract with Nike, Inc.
In 2017 [World Championships in Athletics|2017] and 2019, he failed to make the 800 metres finals at the World Athletics Championships, securing the silver medal in the event at the 2018 African Championships in Athletics.
Korir qualified to represent Kenya at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he won the gold medal in the 800 m event with a time of Athletics at the [2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres|1:45.06].
He completed the Olympic-world double at the 2022 World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon, claiming 800 m title in a season's best of 2022 [World Athletics Championships – Men's 800 metres|1:43.71]. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games|Commonwealth Games] in Birmingham the following month, he was disqualified for a lane infringement in the men's 400 metres heats.
His current residence is El Paso, Texas.