Kenya’s David Rudisha successfully defended his Olympic Games 800m crown and subsequently handed Kenya the second gold medal here in Rio.
Rudisha won in
a world leading time of 1:42.15 to become the fourth athlete to win the 800m race twice after Douglas Lowe (Great Britain 1924 and 1928), Mal Whitfield (USA 1948 and 1952),
and Peter Snell (New Zealand 1960 and 1964).
Rudisha’s feat
brings the country’s total number of medals to two gold and three silver so far.
Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi took silver in a national record of 1:42.61 while Clayton Murphy of United States won bronze in a personal best time of 1:42.93.
The other two Kenyans Ferguson Rotich (1:43.41) and Alfred Kipketer ( 1:46.02) finished fifth and seventh respectively.
This as Kenya’s fifth Olympic gold medal in history with only Great Britain (six) and USA (eight) having collected more medals in the two lap race.
In an interview, Rudisha admitted he was a bit worried about the weather conditions after heavy rain but later psyched himself up.
“I was really worried about the weather but when I looked at the weather focus and saw it was about 22 degrees, this gave me a lot of hope. I just wanted to stay focused on the goal of the day and look beyond the wet track,” he said.
An elated Rudisha, however, revealed that his build up for Rio Olympics has not been easy, having suffered injury problems and losses.
“It’s been very difficult. I have stayed focused and positive. My coach has been great and given me hope,” he reflected.
Rudisha was elated to have run his fastest time since his Olympic year of 2012.
“Running 1:42 was just fantastic. My body responded well and it was great to win my second gold. I am so excited and It is the greatest moment of my career,” added King David.
Race-wise, the Kenyan led in the opening 200 metres before his young compatriot and former world junior champion Alfred Kipketer dashed to the front and tried to run away from the field.
Kipketer covered the first lap in 49.23 with Rudisha a few steps back. However, the early sprint took toll on Kipketer, who dropped to the back never to recover again.
Rudisha then hit the front with 280 metres to go and kept on flying before settling for gold medal.