David Rudisha to seek fourth win at adidas Grand Prix NYC

David Rudisha, photo by PhotoRun.net

David Rudisha is the 2012 Olympic champion at 800 meters. Anyone who was in the stadium that day will never forget the race. Racing from the front, David Rudisha won the gold medal and also set a new World record for the distance, all in one race. Winning the 800 meter gold medal, and setting a world record at the said distance are not, if one looks at history, pursuits done in the same race.

Funny thing is, no one really told David Rudisha that, or perhaps, he just wanted to do something that 80,000 fans would remember.

To watch David Rudisha run is a real treat. Well, those who go to the adidas Grand Prix on June 13, 2015, will be treated to a master class over 800 meters. To watch David Rudisha race is one thing, to interview him makes Mr. Rudisha’s racing even more spectacular: David is a student of his event. He has seen many of the major WR videos and races of Seb Coe, Alberto Juantorena, Steve Ovett, Wilson Kipketer, among others. There is a quiet confidence when Mr. Rudisha speaks on his event: he speaks with the knowledge of someone who knows the race inside and out, and who knows also that, 800 meter runners, most specially, are only human. Reputation be damned, the 800 meter racer is only as good as their last race.

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David Rudisha to Seek Fourth Win at adidas Grand Prix

Blanka VlasÌŒicÌ, AjeeÌ Wilson Also Join Roster for NYC Meet on June 13

NEW YORK CITY (April 2, 2015)–David Rudisha, Blanka VlasÌŒicÌ, and AjeeÌ Wilson will join
Usain Bolt on the roster for the adidas Grand Prix on June 13, organizers announced today.

Rudisha, the reigning Olympic Champion and World Record-holder at 800 meters, will be
looking for his fourth-consecutive victory here, while VlasÌŒicÌ, a four-time IAAF World Champion
in the high jump, will seek to repeat her win here from 2013.

Wilson, the 2012 World Junior Champion and one of the best New Jersey high school runners in
history, will be seeking her first adidas Grand Prix win–in front of a hometown crowd.

“I can’t wait to compete in one of the world’s great competitions right here in New York at
Randall’s Island,” said Wilson, who hails from Neptune, N.J., about an hour south of Icahn
Stadium. “I will be ready to race against the world’s best athletes, and a win would bode well for
me in defending my U.S. title later in June.”

Tickets for the Diamond League event, which is marking its 11th year of bringing the world’s
top athletes to New York City, are on sale now at www.adidasgrandprix.com or by calling 1-877-
849-8722.

In addition to his 2012 Olympic victory, in which he ran a World Record time of 1:40.91,
Rudisha is the 2011 IAAF World Champion, and has been ranked #1 in the world five times
(2007, 2009-2012) by Track & Field News magazine. In 2010, he was named IAAF Athlete of
the Year. Now 26 years old, the Kenyan superstar stunned the Icahn Stadium crowd in 2012 by
stopping the clock at 1:41.74, the fastest 800 meters ever run in this country, in his U.S. debut.

VlasÌŒicÌ, 31, of Croatia, also made her U.S. debut at this meet–in 2011, coming in ranked #1 in
the world for four consecutive years (2007-2010). Owning the second-highest jump in history,
VlasÌŒicÌ is also the 2008 Olympic silver medalist and in 2010 went undefeated in Diamond League
competition on the way to being named the IAAF Female Athlete of the Year, alongside Rudisha.
After missing the entire 2012 season to injury, she began her comeback at the adidas Grand Prix in 2013, tying the meet record with her emotional victory.

The 20-year-old Wilson, who is both the 2012 World Junior Champion and 2011 World Youth
Champion at 800 meters, is one of the brightest young stars in the sport. In 2014 alone, she won
U.S. titles at 800 meters both indoors and outdoors, helped her team set an American Record in winning the 4×800 meters at the IAAF World Relays, and ran the fastest time in the world
(1:57.67) at 800 meters for the year–which she finished ranked #2 in the world.

One of the premier track-and-field events in the world, the adidas Grand Prix has hosted two
World Records and 17 National Records in its first 10 years, and its fans have had the privilege
of witnessing more than a dozen performances that were the fastest ever recorded on U.S. soil.

The seventh stop on the international IAAF Diamond League circuit, the adidas Grand Prix is
in its 11th year at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island, in conjunction with the Randall’s Island
Sports Alliance. The latest news, photos and information on the event can be found at www.
adidasgrandprix.com and here on Facebook and Twitter, @adidasgrandprix, #AGPNYC.

The adidas Group is a global leader in the sporting goods industry, offering a broad portfolio of footwear, apparel
and hardware for sport and lifestyle around the core brands adidas, Reebok, TaylorMade and Reebok-CCM Hockey.
Headquartered in Herzogenaurach/Germany, the Group generated sales of â‚¬ 14.5 billion in 2013 and currently employs 54,000 people across the globe, including 5,472 in Germany (as at December 31, 2014).

Author

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.

Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

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