David Rudisha is well on his way to the world record. © www.photorun.net
David Rudisha of Kenya has improved his 800m personal best to 1:41.51 minutes. He ran this sizzling time at the KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium on Saturday. Not only did he set a new African record, but he also ran the fastest time in 13 years for that distance.
The 22-year-old’s motivation to run came originally from his father, Daniel, a 4 x 400m silver medallist in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. According to the International Association of Athletics Federations Web site (iaaf.org), David began to train seriously in 2004, albeit in decathlon. Now, he is fast approaching the 800-meter world record currently held by Wilson Kipketer of Denmark.
Wilson Kipketer set the world record twice in 1997: the first time was in Zurich (1:41.24), Switzerland. He then improved it to the current mark of 1:41.11 in Cologne, Germany, later that year. It now seems as if it’s only a matter of time until David Rudisha breaks this 13-year-old record. Wilson Kipketer himself declared last year that he is confident that David Rudisha can do it.
At the time Kipketer made his prediction, Rudisha had already improved his personal best to 1:42.01 minutes, which made him the fastest 800m runner since Kipketer himself in 1997. This year he ran an impressive world’s best (1:42.04) in Oslo (Sweden), which he has now improved in Heusden-Zolder.
On Saturday, David Rudisha had his own Kenyan pacemakers.Sammy Tangui there to lead him to the 400m mark in 49.14 seconds. At that point, Boaz Lalang took over and was able to stay with him for another 150m. In the final 250m, David Rudisha’s pace didn’t slow much, which is why he came closer to the world record than anyone ever before. He crossed the line in 1:41.51, followed by Belal Mansoor (Qatar/1:44.95) and Nadjim Manseur (Algeria/1:46.97).
“Today I wanted to do something that I had never done before,” Rudisha told the IAAF’s Web site, iaaf.org. “In the final stages it is always tough and I will need to improve on my last 50m if I want to break the world record. I do not feel disappointed at all about not breaking the world record. I enjoy to run well and to gradually become better and better. Today I wanted to run in the 1:41 and that is what I achieved and I feel great about that. But I’m confident that I will still improve and that is why breaking the world record is the next step in my development. It will happen,” he said.
Stefano Baldini Set to Make a Comeback
Olympic gold medallist Stefano Baldini will be making his comeback at the European Championships. © www.photorun.net
The Italian Stefano Baldini is on the start list for the marathon at the European Championships in Barcelona, Spain where he will be seeking to defend his title. He is part of a six-man team that was selected by the Italian Athletics Federation to vie for the European title.
The 39-year-old Italien has won the event twice in his career. Stefano Baldini’s first victory was in Budapest, Hungary in 1998 and the second time was in Gothenburg, Sweden four years ago. In Spain he could become the first three-time winner at the European Championships. “I’m not going there just to run but to produce a good performance. I want to achieve something special for Italy,” explained Stefano, who had originally wanted to end his career after the 2008 Olympic Games where he finished a respectable 12th. He hasn’t raced a marathon since. Stefano Baldini owns the Italian record for the marathon: 2:07:22 hours.
Despite this apparent end to his career in Beijing, Stefano Baldini never really gave up running and turned his focus to shorter races. His coach Luciano Giglotti was the one who convinced him to prepare for the European Championship marathon in Barcelona. “Why don’t you set yourself the goal of winning a medal in Barcelona?” the coach is supposed to have asked him, according to the Italian sports newspaper Gazetta dello Sport.
Stefano Baldini’s training included a spell in Kenya, where he trained with world-class marathon runners Martin Lel and 2008 Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru. Baldini had hoped to run a spring marathon in Italy, but injury got in the way. However, in May he ran a half marathon in Polpenazze del Garda where he finished in 64:57 minutes, leaving, among others, Daniele Caimmi behind him. Caimmi is also a member of the Italian marathon squad for the European Championships. This performance convinced the Italian Federation to select him for their six-man squad.
The reason why every country is allowed to enter six runners at the European Championship marathon is that Barcelona is also a team race for the European Cup. The Continental Federation hadn’t set a qualifying standard for runners—a decision which worked in Stefano Baldini’s favor.
Will Stefano Baldini be able to summon the magic again? Be sure to watch the race on Sunday, August 1 to find out!
