Display of greatness as Rudisha bags Kenya's second gold in Rio

PHOTO: COURTESY

Almost every soul inside the Olympic Stadium stood up the moment David Lekuta Rudisha emerged from the Call Room.

It was an acclaim reminiscent to that accorded Jamaica’s multiple record holder, Usain Bolt.

And Rudisha did not disappoint. He seized the moment and majestically gave the approving souls what they wanted, stopping the clock at 1:42.15 and in his wake left mortals gasping for breath.

It was a special day for Rudisha both inside Rio stadium and back home, for his feat coincided with some good news.

On the day he struck his second Olympic gold medal, Rudisha’s coach Brother Colm O’Connell was celebrating his 68th birthday in Iten while his wife Lizz Naanyu was in Eldoret town donating food to street children.

But his father, Daniel Rudisha, the 1968 Olympics silver medallist in Mexico City, sat by the fireplace watching his son surpass his Olympic performance.

SET ALARMS

Like the elder Rudisha, thousands of other Kenyans either stayed up into the early hours of the morning or set alarms to wake them up just to watch greatness unfold before them, albeit from a far-off land in South America.

For this reason, Rudisha dedicated his gold medal, procured in astonishing fashion, to Kenyans across the globe.

The world record holder not only retained the Olympic title but did it in style as he set a world leading time (1:42.15) – a feat few athletics stars would ever dream of in major championships.

Rudisha, a chief traffic police inspector in Eldoret, said he felt honoured that most of Kenyans woke up early in the morning to watch him compete and for that he said: “I am happy I did not let the country down in my mission to represent everyone here in Rio de Janeiro.”

“I feel honoured that many Kenyans stayed up late to watch this race. I just want to thank them all and dedicate this victory to all of them back home,” said Rudisha, who dazzled the expectant stadium as did Jamaican Bolt in the 100m.

However, it was not an easy win for Rudisha who admitted to have felt the tension minutes before as rains started pounding Rio. Rudisha dreads wet weather for, according to the track star, it lowers his performance.

“When I looked at the weather predictions, I was a bit worried as the low temperatures at the time of the race did not encourage me.

“However, when I saw the temperatures keep changing at 21 and 22 degrees, I got some hope. I also decided not to focus much on the rain and the water on the track, as sometimes all these things are all psychological,” said Rudisha.

Weather conditions aside, Rudisha said the start of the race did not go according to plan.

Alfred Kipketer, the 2014 world junior champion, shot to the front in suicidal pace and even crossed the 400m mark at 49:23, which did not impress Rudisha.

“I spoke to this guy at the warm-up track and told him I was going to lead the race as usual. I don’t know what went wrong with Alfred as he decided to shoot like that in the first opening metres.

 

“I decided to slow down a bit just to regain my rhythm because I realised that if we all went with that pace, then it was going to cost us in the last stages of the race, but I decided to push in the last 300m,” he said.

Rudisha thinks Kipketer made a mistake that cost him a medal even as the 800m record holder tried to control the race, and forcing him to attack from the outside, something not characteristic of his running tactic.

Kipketer crossed the 600m in the lead at 1:16.04, a somewhat world record pace. Kipketer and Ferguson Rotich, another Kenyan in the final, returned seventh and fifth resp

.

It was an acclaim reminiscent to that accorded Jamaica’s multiple record holder, Usain Bolt.

And Rudisha did not disappoint. He seized the moment and majestically gave the approving souls what they wanted, stopping the clock at 1:42.15 and in his wake left mortals gasping for breath.

It was a special day for Rudisha both inside Rio stadium and back home, for his feat coincided with some good news.

On the day he struck his second Olympic gold medal, Rudisha’s coach Brother Colm O’Connell was celebrating his 68th birthday in Iten while his wife Lizz Naanyu was in Eldoret town donating food to street children.

But his father, Daniel Rudisha, the 1968 Olympics silver medallist in Mexico City, sat by the fireplace watching his son surpass his Olympic performance.

SET ALARMS

Like the elder Rudisha, thousands of other Kenyans either stayed up into the early hours of the morning or set alarms to wake them up just to watch greatness unfold before them, albeit from a far-off land in South America.

For this reason, Rudisha dedicated his gold medal, procured in astonishing fashion, to Kenyans across the globe.

The world record holder not only retained the Olympic title but did it in style as he set a world leading time (1:42.15) – a feat few athletics stars would ever dream of in major championships.

Rudisha, a chief traffic police inspector in Eldoret, said he felt honoured that most of Kenyans woke up early in the morning to watch him compete and for that he said: “I am happy I did not let the country down in my mission to represent everyone here in Rio de Janeiro.”

“I feel honoured that many Kenyans stayed up late to watch this race. I just want to thank them all and dedicate this victory to all of them back home,” said Rudisha, who dazzled the expectant stadium as did Jamaican Bolt in the 100m.

However, it was not an easy win for Rudisha who admitted to have felt the tension minutes before as rains started pounding Rio. Rudisha dreads wet weather for, according to the track star, it lowers his performance.

“When I looked at the weather predictions, I was a bit worried as the low temperatures at the time of the race did not encourage me.

“However, when I saw the temperatures keep changing at 21 and 22 degrees, I got some hope. I also decided not to focus much on the rain and the water on the track, as sometimes all these things are all psychological,” said Rudisha.

Weather conditions aside, Rudisha said the start of the race did not go according to plan.

Alfred Kipketer, the 2014 world junior champion, shot to the front in suicidal pace and even crossed the 400m mark at 49:23, which did not impress Rudisha.

“I spoke to this guy at the warm-up track and told him I was going to lead the race as usual. I don’t know what went wrong with Alfred as he decided to shoot like that in the first opening metres.

“I decided to slow down a bit just to regain my rhythm because I realised that if we all went with that pace, then it was going to cost us in the last stages of the race, but I decided to push in the last 300m,” he said.

Rudisha thinks Kipketer made a mistake that cost him a medal even as the 800m record holder tried to control the race, and forcing him to attack from the outside, something not characteristic of his running tactic.

Kipketer crossed the 600m in the lead at 1:16.04, a somewhat world record pace. Kipketer and Ferguson Rotich, another Kenyan in the final, returned seventh and fifth respectively.