Rudisha targets gold ahead of world record

World 800m champion David Rudisha. [Photo:Standard]

David Rudisha has ruled out an attempt on his 800m world record at the London Olympics after comfortably winning his heat on Monday.

Rudisha, whose world record stands at one minute 41.01 seconds, is the overwhelming favourite to take the 800m title in London after missing out on selection for Beijing four years ago through injury.

“The track is fast. It looks good,” the 23-year-old world champion told reporters through a translator.

“In this championship I don’t look at the record. It is a medal that I want. Once I get the medal, toward the end of the season I can think about the record.”

Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi’s brief appearance in the 800 heats appears to have dashed his medal hopes in the 1,500 after he was disqualified from all further events in the athletics competition because the referee considered that he had not provided a bona fide effort.

Makhloufi, who beat champion Asbel Kiprop in Tuesday’s semi-final of the 1,500, jogged for 200m before stepping off the track. He had been confirmed in the two-lap race by his team the previous day and so had to run, the IAAF said.

It was a different story for Australia’s gold medal favourite Sally Pearson, who went all out in the 100 hurdles to record the fastest first-round time at an Olympics with 12.57 seconds.

But there were tears for women’s 1,500 medal hopeful Genzebe Dibaba, younger sister of Ethiopia’s 10,000 champion Tirunesh, who was taken off the track in a wheelchair clutching her hamstring after struggling in her heat.

Belarussian Nadezhda Ostapchuk topped qualifying for the women’s shot put with 20.76m just ahead of her arch rival, world and Olympic champion Valerie Adams of New Zealand (20.40).

There was also plenty of home success in the morning qualifiers to keep the cheers rolling around the stadium. Lawrence Okoye sealed a place in Tuesday’s discus final with a throw of 65.28.

“The whole team is feeling pretty positive at the moment, the story’s going round about how the crowd is unbelievable and I witnessed it myself today,” said Britain’s Andrew Osagie. — Reuters