David Rudisha makes a comeback in Samsung Diamond League – Athletics news
The 22-year old middle distance runner from Kenya, David Rudisha, who holds the world record in 800m for clocking one minute and 41.01 seconds, has finally made a comeback at the Samsung Diamond League in Lausanne. The Kenyan athlete was unable to compete in the previous Doha and Rome editions of the league.
For the 800m run, Rudisha kicked-off with his first success back in 2009 at the World Athletics Championships, where his efforts landed him in the semi-finals. In the same year, while appearing at the IAAF Grand Prix in Italy, the splendid athlete set the African Record for hitting the finishing line in one minute and 42.01 seconds.
Rudisha’s stupendous performance helped him break the 25-year-old record of one minute and 42.28 seconds, which had been marked by his countryman and veteran athlete, Sammy Koskei. After producing the new African record, Rudisha was placed as the fourth fastest player in the list of all-time fastest runners of the discipline.
In the following year, he produced similar results at the IAAF Diamond League, where the time clocked by him overdid Abubaker Kaki’s effort and marked a world leading one minute and 42.04 seconds. Presently, the young athlete holds the world record for the distance he specialises in.
Amid his potential to produce and sustain his dominance on the track and field, the International Association of Athletics Federations conferred upon him the IAAF World Athlete of the Year award, which was soon followed by the Kenyan Sportsman of the Year award.
Appearing at the Lausanne event, which is the seventh stop of the Samsung Diamond League, Rudisha, is all set to bag his second win of the event at a field which is comprised of some of the most formidable athletes. According to reports, the entry list for the athletics extravaganza consists of five Olympic gold medallists, 12 winners of the last year’s European championships and 13 top athletes from the IAAF 2009 World Championships.
Talking about the injuries which kept the Kenyan from taking part in the biggest event of this season, Rudisha said, “I think it was 23 April I was first troubled with my (left) ankle, I was just working on my preparations for Doha but I was not comfortable with the pain in the ankle. I wasn’t able to do much training but by the time I arrived in Germany on 21 May I had been running in training shoes for ten days or so.”
Despite of resuming his training, it took Rudisha another two weeks to recommence work in spikes. The injury cost him five precious weeks of trainings, but seeing his present fitness, it seems that the Kenyan is well capable of making up for the missed sessions.
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