David Rudisha's win in the 800 meters showed that he has increased his tactical repertoire, and he is more dangerous now as a racer than ever before. His control of the race from the beginning, allowed him to use that 33 second 300 meter speed (and 200 meter repeats in 22-23) to his benefit.
Justin Lagat reprises the fourth Kenyan gold medal from last night, won by one of the nicest, and toughest competitors on the circuit, David Rudisha.
David Rudisha, photo by PhotoRun.net
David Rudisha wins a fourth gold medal for Kenya in the men's 800m, by Justin Lagat
He is now on top of the world again and remains as King David of the 800m! David Rudisha ran a tactical race to win the men's 800m world title in the Bird's Nest in Beijing. This was his second world title after winning his first title in Daegu in 2011.
To be in control of a 800m race from the beginning to the end is tricky, as other competitors would just run behind you and let you do the pacing, then sprint past you in the last few meters. But, Rudisha must have done his research very well. He went out to the front early in the race, but kept the pace comfortable throughout as he ensured that he kept himself on the inside of lane one and preserved his energy for the finishing kick. The real kick started with about 150 meters to go and Rudisha was able to ease away from the chasers to win the race in 1:45.84. Adam Kszczot of Poland won silver as Amel Tuka, who was the favorite non-Kenyan, won the bronze medal.
Amel Tuka had beaten both Mohammed Aman and Nijel Amos in a recent IAAF race and was the reason why many considered him the favorite while Kenyans considered him as the most dangerous.
Amos Nijel of Botswana in a number of past races including the Commonwealth Games has been usually there to spoil Rudisha's chances of winning by producing strong kicks in the last 100m to beat him. But, the Botswanan never made it to the finals this time round. In a semi-final, in which Rudisha had also run in the same style of conserving enough energy for the finishing kick, Nijel had not been able to kick his way to the top two positions as he finished third in a semi-final that had the slowest winning time. The developments here might have really made Rudisha more hopeful about clinching the title. The other threat who was the defending champion, Mohammed Aman, was also later disqualified in another semi-final.
Rudisha's run here in the Bird's Next was not as spectacular as it was in London during the 2012 Olympic Games when he had paced himself to a new world record before the 80,000 fans that had packed the Olympic Stadium.
What mattered for him here was to win the world title.
Having been disappointed by injuries soon after his world record run in London, failing to feature at the world championships in Moscow and getting beaten by Amos Nijel at the Commonwealth Games last year, he really needed to win this.
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