David Rudisha

thumb|David Rudisha David Lekuta Rudisha, MBS (born 17 December 1988) is a retired Kenyan middle-distance runner who is the world and Olympic record holder in the 800 metres. Rudisha won gold medals in the 800 m at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympic Games; at the former, he set the current world record with a time of 1:40.91. He is also a two-time World champion (2011 and 2015) and two-time Diamond League champion (2010 and 2011) in the 800 m. Rudisha is the first and only person to ever run 800 m under 1:41, and holds the three fastest times ever in the event, each being a world record at the time. Quotes Well, it was a great week for me. I had not talked so much of the World record but after running 1:41.51 in Heusden in July and after feeling so strong in the African Championships in Nairobi, I felt I could challenge the World record in August. I thought I could do it in Rieti. But with my coach and manager we thought I needed to have another chance to break the record because although the weather seems always good in Rieti, you never know. We came to Berlin the week before prepared to run fast if the weather was good. I was very happy that it was a warm afternoon and of course it was a great achievement for me to break the record. It was an incredible feeling for me. As I’ve said before my focus this year is on the World Championships in Daegu but that is still two months away and by then I am confident I will be running at my best. It is very important for me. I broke the World record twice last year but since then I have been saying that to be considered a great athlete you need to win championships as well as breaking World records.   The Olympics are of course a big target for me and to win in Daegu I would consider would be a vital step towards that. I have some good races in the coming period – Lausanne this Thursday, the Kenyan Trials (16 July) and then Monaco 22 July and London 5 August. So there is plenty of time and some good competitions for me to be back at my very best. Last year I was still very strong at the end of August and early September, I expect the same this year and in fact this injury may help me peak at just the right time.  In a championship year you don’t want to reach your peak too early. I haven’t run under 1:41 yet. Yes, we laughed about this last year in Monaco but as I said then, I haven’t run under 1:41 yet, so I can’t be talking of running under 1:40! I believe I can run something like 1:40 and a half but 1:39 seems very difficult!  I think you have to run a strong first lap something like 49-low or 49-5 in order to run 1:40.  I don’t think you can run two laps of 50. Seb Coe agreed with me that you definitely need to run a strong and faster first lap but of course not too fast.  Wilson also said that his experience over many years was you need to be faster on the fast lap. There is a balance and I think 49-low is about right for me. My father (Daniel) has played a big influence on my career particularly when I was young and at home and just starting in athletics.  I looked up to him and wanted to be an athlete like him.   He gave me good advice when I was young and taught me that I must be patient and work hard and make the most of my talent. Since 2005 I joined the training camp of Brother Colm,It was he that suggested I try the 800. He has been my coach since then. We work nicely together, he knows me well and he knows middle distance running well. Rudisha: “In a championship year you don’t want to reach your peak too early” – Lausanne, Samsung Diamond League,June 29 2011 Athletes are just normal people, Sometimes you get to the right place,London was great, I love the city and the people were great, they love sport. Everything was perfect, that's why I did so well. Just for fun, maybe one time we can do it for charity. I believe after winning in London I have released some pressure. In London I was attempting around 1:41.00 without a pacemaker, although I knew that no one had ever done that. I had run 1:42.12 comfortably at altitude in Africa so I thought it might be possible. I tried to memorise how I had run at altitude and use the same tactics. If you see the way I ran, the last 200m I really pushed hard. That's what I did in Kenya and that's what really helped. I was not really going for the world record. People were really confident that I was going to do something special but my pressure was to win the Olympic title – that was the most important thing. People couldn't believe that you could break the world record in the Olympics without a pacesetter. There was a lot of pressure. Also with my family being an Olympic family, I wanted to continue the legacy of my father in 1968. Everything was right that day, my shape was at the top – it was my day. I don't know what his reaction was but I think he was emotional. He even left to meet friends and celebrate. If you walk around at 10am, you will find thousands of people training, even more than that. Now that I have seen that some Kenyans have been caught doping, it's a sad situation,It's unfortunate this is what we've been hearing. We have so many talented athletes in Kenya and we have been performing well globally since the 1960s. Some people want to get fame easily without working hard. It's not fair and it is a very sad situation. We encourage athletes to exercise fair play and work hard. It's happening not just in athletics and it's not a good thing. To get to the top is not easy but to maintain your level is even more difficult. The important thing now is to stay focused. David Rudisha remains on target for world title defence in Moscow, May 13 2013 External links Category:Track and field athletes Category:1988 births Category:Sportspeople from Kenya Category:Living people Category:Olympic gold medalists