David Rudisha
David Rudisha
David Lekuta Rudisha, MBSis a Kenyan middle-distance runner. He is the current Olympic champion, World champion and world record holder in the 800 metres. Rudisha was the first person to run under 1:41 for the event, and he holds the three fastest, six of the eight fastest, and half of the twenty fastest times ever run in this event. Rudisha has won a record 3 consecutive Track & Field Athlete of the Year awards, and also won the IAAF World...
NationalityKenyan
ProfessionRunner
Date of Birth17 December 1988
CityKilgoris, Kenya
CountryKenya
I missed the final of the World Championships in 2009, but I told the coach I would break the world record in 2010. Which I did. Then in 2011 I won the World Championships and now in 2012 it is the Olympics. That is how I have been working.
I was ready in 2008 for the Olympic Games but unfortunately I missed the Kenyan trials with a thigh injury. I watched those Olympics but it was tough to watch. But it was good in the end because a Kenyan, Wilfred Bungei, was the champion.
The weather plays a very big role. I have run very few races in the raining and the cold.
Even if the pace is slow in championships, you can still sprint well and still power in the last 200, which is always the main part when the race is slow.
My family means everything to me and the birth of our daughter has enabled me to have more focus on my career and every time I compete, I dedicate my success to them.
Fantastic, I am very happy to be the fastest 800 metres runner in the world.
Races always are good to show where you are reaching in your training as well as to keep you sharpened. Every race, in my program, I put it in a special way like a ladder, climbing up slowly and slowly to the next one. I see where my training is, and that is like a test.
I was still young when I missed Beijing. I was favourite to win a medal but I knew I had time. My coach advised me to stay at school and finish my exams. Even if I had gone and won the Olympics, I might not have handled the pressure. So I moved on.
Going to the Olympics as a Maasai I want to make them proud because, after the warm welcome they gave me when I went back and being their leader, I want to also be the warrior in the Olympics. That will be something good because that will be the first Olympic gold medal for the Maasai.
Already in 2007 I thought I would be able to break the World record in the near future. That time Sammy Tangui was the pacemaker in Lausanne. I liked the way he was running. He is tall, he has a strong body and his stride is similar to mine. I told him in one of the coming years I would need him when I try to break the World record.
The Olympics is a special event and winning is very important. For me as a world record holder and world champion, the only thing I am missing is the Olympic gold medal and that is what I want to achieve in my career.
When I was a little boy, I always wanted to run. I loved competing with my friends.
I realized I could run after finding out that my dad used to run and it gave me the morale that if he did it then maybe I could also run.
My father's encouragement is what has brought me this far, because when I grew up I wanted to be like him, and I knew I had that ability to become an athlete. Being an Olympian is one of the greatest things, and being an Olympic gold medallist is one of the most prestigious titles in the world.