Kenya’s David Rudisha has successfully retained his 800m Olympic title after racing to a Season’s Best (SB) of 1:42.15 to win at the Rio 2016 Games.
It is the first time that any athlete is winning back to back 800m Olympic titles since Patrick Snell did it at the Rome 1960 Olympics and four years later in Tokyo.
Coming just two years after having a knee surgery that kept him out for over a year, Rudisha once again ruled on the biggest stage, running an impressive race to win Kenya’s second GOLD in Rio.
Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi ran a new National Record of 1:42.61 to win Silver with Clayton Murphy piping Pierre-Ambroise Bosse to win Bronze and running a Personal Best of 1:42.93
Alfred Kipketer went out very hard in the first 200m with his compatriot Rudisha doing his best to stay with him and moved in front when they took the bell, holding on strongly to finish.
Rudisha who has a history of not wanting to run in the rain, was lucky that when it got to his event the earlier heavy downpour had stopped and the track dried.
He may not have matched his World Record of four years ago, but retaining his title on the back of a career threatening injury would mean so much to him.
Do you Know: Rudisha’s father was part of the Kenyan 4x400m team that won Silver at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico?
