World 800m record holder David Rudisha led compatriots Ferguson Rotich and Alfred Kipketer into the semis of their specialty off the heats this afternoon as the 2016 Olympic Games track and field programme started.
Rudisha clocked the fastest time off heat 3 - 1:45.09 as he started his title defence in style, relegating South African Rynardt van Rensburg (1:45.67) and Great Britain’s Michael Rimmer (1:45.99) to the lesser automatic qualification slots.
The lanky Kenyan produced a fine front-running display and was on a roll with almost a second over his closest challenger at the death.
Rotich finished second in heat 2 in a time of 1:46.00 behind Pole Adam Kszczot (1:45.83) as Andreas Arroyo of Puerto Rico grabbed the last automatic slot in 1:46.17.
Immediate former world junior champion Alfred Kipketer was the last of the Kenyan trio to sail through, winning heat four in 1:46.61.
Kipketer also ran in the front, increasing the pace at the bell to seat pretty. He however, had to withstand a late onslaught by Algerian Yassin Hethat (1:46.81) after 600m.
The smallest of the three Kenyans held on as Yassine faded, with Andreas Bube (1:46.67) of Denmark sneaking in on the inside to pip the Algerian to second.
