Rudisha rules roost as Chemos loses out

By OMULO OKOTH IN MONTE CARLO, MONACO

History, hard work and good company is what propelled 21-year-old David Lekuta Rudisha to win the 2010 World Athlete of the Year award at the annual International Athletic Foundation (IAF) awards.

High jump star Blanka Vlasic of Croatia won the women’s title.

"I grew up in the surrounding of quality 800m runners like the Konchellah brothers — Billy and — Stephen ole Marai, William Yiampoy, not to mention that my father was also a good 400m runner," Rudisha, holder of world 800 metre world record and first Kenyan running for Kenya to the win the global title, told journalists.

"Besides the runners from my village, Kenya has a history of good 800m runners like Olympic champions Wilfred Bungei, Paul Ereng and William Tanui and even (Dane) Wilson Kipketer. What more motivation does one need?" said Rudisha as cameras clicked at the Hotel Fairmont where the two top athletes were presented to the media by the President of International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Lamine Diack.

"I also had very good coaches, managers and friends who gave me good advise and always stood by me throughout the period of this campaign. I also worked very hard, especially after running 1:41 in Heusden (the Netherlands) when I believed I would do it (break the world record). I thank them all".

"But I have some unfinished business. I really want to win a world or Olympic title. I also want to run under 1:41. I know it won’t be easy, but I really would like to achieve this. Those are my immediate goals," he said.

He said this would make his Maasai people, who threw for him a big party when he set the two world records, even happier.

He reflected back to last year’s World Championships in Berlin and regretted that the weather did not permit him to run well.

Rudisha’s coach brother Colm O’Connell was among the first people to congratulate the 800m King saying it is a great feat for Kenya.

"He is now officially the first Kenyan to win the award (Dane Wilson Kipketer won it in 1997). It is good for him. His achievement will also motivate other athletes that they can do it, too."

He added: "With that feat, it means he must maintain the standards he has set and show leadership to the rest of his peers. I know he can handle it and expect a lot more from him."

MONTE CARLO NOTE BOOK

No city has had its bidding for World Championships so easy like Beijing did.

The Chinese city was unchallenged for the 2015 World Championships when past bidding processes have been so tightly won. When Helsinki won the bid for 2005 during the IAAF Council in Nairobi in 2001, it left many broken legs and arms in its wake. Rome, Berlin and Budapest did not know what hit them. Berlin later bid and won the right to stage the 2009 Worlds which are said to have been a huge success.

Daegu and Moscow were awarded the right to stage 2011 and 2013 Worlds, again in Kenya, during the IAAF Council in Mombasa in 2007.

But thanks to its iconic Bird’s Nest Stadium and quintessential organisation of the 2008 Olympics, Beijing just had a walk in the park.it off each time journalists asked why, why why...? "I am evaluating my coaching situation," was the standard answer she gave. She also disclosed that she will try and get both 100m and 200m either at Daegu (Worlds) or London (Olympics). "It would be good if I win both at one championships, it is something I am working on," she said.