Olympic 800m champion
David Rudisha capped his 2016 season
with a fast 500m victory to highlight the
Great North CityGames in Newcastle on
Saturday.
In his first race over the rarely-run
distance, Rudisha clocked 57.69, the
fastest ever recorded.
“This is my first time over the
distance so it was difficult to judge,”
Rudisha said.
“I used the other guys’
experience and took it from there.”
Rudisha spoke highly of the race
setting which attracted some 25,000
spectators to the banks of the River
Tyne.
“It has been fantastic to run here.
ere was less pressure on me today.
It’s fantastic, it’s awesome to run in an
event like this. To have athletics in the
middle of a city is one of the greatest
ideas.”
Mark English, last year’s winner,
clocked 57.91 for second with MartynRooney, also of Great Britain, third in
59.02.
Lynsey Sharp of Great Britain, also
an 800m specialist, won the women’s
500m in 1:06.62, also the fastest time
ever recorded, according to organisers.
She held off Shelayna Oskan-Clarke
and Anyika Onuora who clocked
1:06.89 and 1:07.04 respectively.
“I really wanted this,” said Sharp,
sixth in the Olympic 800m final.
Laura Muir, the world leader in
the 1500m, closed her season with a
victory in the road mile in 4:33.99, a
few steps clear of Alison Leonard, who
clocked 4:34.42.
In the men’s race, Jake
Wightman notched a surprise win,
holding off Pole Marcin Lewandowski
4:05.70 to 4:05.98.
Exciting head-to-head battles
featured in the four-lane sprint and
hurdles events.
Danny Talbot defeated
Richard Kilty over the rarely-run
150m distance by a scant 0.01 in 15.06.
Desiree Henry clocked 16.57 to win
the women’s race over Olympic 400m
finalist Natasha Hastings, who clocked
16.67