Yego is bracing for another shot at glory when he lines up at the Zurich Diamond League final on Thursday, chasing what would be his first-ever finals triumph.
The 35-year-old, fondly known as “The YouTube Man” for his self-taught rise to stardom, arrives in Zurich buoyed by his stirring victory in Silesia on August 16, a throw of 83.60m that ended his nine-year Diamond League victory drought.
On that night, he outgunned Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott (82.54m) and Moldova’s Andrian Mardare (82.38m), rekindling memories of his dominant past. That triumph was Yego’s first on the circuit since 2016, when he unleashed 84.68m to win the Prefontaine Classic.
Germany’s Thomas Rohler (82.53m) and the Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch (80.94m). Further, unlike last year, when he only managed three throws beyond 80m before the Paris Olympics, Yego has already breached that barrier six times in 2025, an encouraging sign as he builds towards the Tokyo World Championships.
Yego had earlier relayed his intentions of making sure that by the time he gets to Tokyo, he is in peak form.
”I want to make sure that by the time we get to the World Championships, my form is in its peak, and that is what I am working on now,” Yego said during the July 22 World Championship trials.
His main target for Tokyo will be to replicate his 2015 heroics from Beijing, where he heaved a massive 92.72m to claim the World title. “My overall target is to be on the highest podium and that is to win the World Championships. I won it in 2015, and I feel I am ready to do it again,” he added.
Yego launched his 2025 campaign at the Doha Diamond League in May, securing ninth place after a 78.52m throw.
The meeting saw Germany’s Julian Weber unleash a world-leading 91.06m to claim victory. Chopra soared into the 90m club with 90.23m, while Olympic bronze medallist Anderson Peters of Grenada threw 85.64m for third.
He followed it up with an appearance in front of the home crowd at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi on May 31. Yego once again struggled to find his groove, placing ninth with a below-par 74.71m.
Brazil’s Luiz Mauricio da Silva (86.34m) claimed top honours, with Germany’s Thomas Röhler (80.79m) and Portugal’s Leandro Ramos (80.68m) completing the podium. The 2015 World champion, however, turned his season around the following month with two dominant displays in Finland.
On June 11 at the Motonet GP meet, he uncorked a season-best 82.95m to take the win, leading 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (79.98m) and Finland’s Taneli Juutinen (78.24m). Six days later, at the Turku continental meet, he improved on his season best with an 83.08m throw to claim victory.
His form, however, dipped at the Paris Diamond League on June 26, finishing sixth with an 80.26m throw. Chopra (88.16m), Julian Weber of Germany (87.88m) and Da Silva (86.62m) claimed the podium. He later improved his season best on July 5 at the inaugural Neeraj Chopra classic in India, launching an 84.51m throw for silver behind Chopra (86.18m).
His most recent meeting was in Brussels, where he placed fifth after launching 80.50m. Germany’s Julian Weber (89.65m), Walcott (86.30m) and Peters (85.17m) claimed the podium. In Zurich, Yego faces a daunting task as he squares off against world-ranked number one and 2020 Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, Peters and Weber.
Adding more depth to the star-studded field are Mardare, Switzerland’s Simon Wieland and Walcott.
by TEDDY MULEI
