Rudisha faces Amos in London meeting

COMMON WEALTH GAMES Botswana's Nijel Amos (L) storms past Kenya's David Rudisha (R) to win the final of the men's 800m athletics event at Hampden Park during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland on July 31, 2014. AFP PHOTO / ANDREJ ISAKOVIC

Three top Kenyans will line up at the London Diamond League meeting on Saturday, keen to reaffirm their status as the best in their races at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games.

Olympic 800m champion David Rudisha will relish the challenge as he returns to the scene of his incredible Olympic gold medal winning world record run from 2012. He lines up in the two-lap race against the man who finished second in the Olympics, Nijel Amos of Botswana.

Others are World 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop in the Emsley Carr Mile, 800m runner Eunice Sum and the usual battle for supremacy in the 3,000m steeplechase led by Ezekiel Kemboi and Jairus Birech.

The Kenyans will be part of the 41 world and 22 Olympic champions who will be running in London on Friday and Saturday.

Rudisha will return to London and will be part of the star attraction that will also see the reappearance of Jamaican Usain Bolt and British Olympic champions Mo Farah.

Rudisha not only won gold in the 2012 Olympic in London, but he also broke his own world record in the process, clocking 1:40.91.

The Kenyan led from gun to tape at a pace that simply blew away the rest of the field.

The race, which has been dubbed ‘the greatest 800m in history’, was littered with personal bests, national records and of course a new world record.

Further highlighting the sheer quality of this final, Great Britain’s Andrew Osagie was last with a PB of 1:43.77; a time which would have won gold in Beijing, Athens and Sydney.

Ahead of returning to London, Rudisha said: “I can’t wait to compete at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games and go back to the Stadium, which has such a special place in my heart.

“Winning an Olympic gold medal and setting a world record was the highlight of my career and I’ll never forget it.”