Twice already he had ran a fraction above 1:42, but in Heusden David Rudisha was looking to break that barrier. Only Sebastian Coe, Joaquim Cruz and Wilson Kipketer had ever done that before. The weather was scorching in the afternoon, thunderstorms would arrive later, but early in the evening conditions were perfect for middle distance racing. Sammy Tangui completed the first lap in 49.14 with Rudisha only a few paces behind. Then Boaz Lalang took over the pace for almost 200 more before David was on his own. He stormed through 600 in around 1:14.4 and never seemed likely to fade as he finished in a fantastic 1:41.51.

Mission completed. Rudisha joins the exclusive 1:41 club, which now has four members. And he may have missed Kipketers world record by 0.4 seconds but his mark will appear on quite a few other record lists. It is a new African record. It's the fastest time of the 21st century. And it moves him up to second place on the all time list. And Rudisha was not exactly exhausted at the finish. That new world record may yet arrive this season.

   Result:
 1 David Rudisha         KEN 1:41.51
 2 Bilal Mansour Ali     BRN 1:44.95
 3 Nadim Mansour         ALG 1:46.97
 4 Matthias Rosseeuw     BEL 1:47.44
 5 Robert Lathouwers     NED 1:47.90

David Rudisha had ran out a distant winner in all of his races so far this season. But in Oslo he faced his first real battle when he met fierce opposition from Abubaker Kaki. Around the final bend it looked for a few moments as if Kaki would be able to hand Rudisha his first defeat of the season. But the Kenyan held on and finished in a fantastic 1:42.04, only a fraction outside his own African record and the eighth fastest time ever run. Kaki's excellent PB of 1:42.23 still moved him up into fifth place on the all time list. Never has any athlete run faster without winning.

Several weeks later, in Lausanne, Rudisha looked even more invincible as he sprinted to another fast time, leaving Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and Alfred Kirwa Yego (the 2009 and 2007 world champions) well behind him. While the Diamond league is only half way Rudisha looks a certain winner already.

   Oslo Result:
 1 David Rudisha         KEN 1:42.04
 2 Abubaker Kaki         SUD 1:42.23
 3 Marcin Lewandowski    POL 1:44.56
 4 Michael Rimmer        GBR 1:44.98
 5 Alfred Kirwa Yego     KEN 1:45.14
 6 Bram Som              NED 1:45.21
 7 Adam Kszczot          POL 1:45.75 

   Lausanne Result:
 1 David Rudisha         KEN 1:43.25
 2 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi     RSA 1:43.58
 3 Alfred Kirwa Yego     KEN 1:43.97
 4 Marcin Lewandowski    POL 1:44.30
 5 Michael Rimmer        GBR 1:44.49
 6 Jackson Kivuna        KEN 1:44.54
 7 Richard Kiplagat      KEN 1:44.77
 8 Bram Som              NED 1:45.25
 9 Luis Alberto Marco    ESP 1:45.26

Early in March Rudisha already showed excellent pace. Ten weeks later in Doha came the first real test at the first Diamond League meeting. He faced established athletes such as 1500m Olympic Champion Asbel Kiprop and last year's 800m World Champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi.

But Rudisha was even faster! And although three other athletes did very well to run below 1"44 he finished well ahead of them in exactly 1"43. A few weeks later he destroyed the field again, and although the weather was poor he still recorded an excellent time. With such a long season still to come one can only wonder what he will do next.

   Doha Result:
 1 David Rudisha         KEN 1:43.00
 2 Asbel Kiprop          KEN 1:43.45
 3 Amine Laalou          MAR 1:43.71
 4 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi     RSA 1:43.78
 5 Yeimar López          CUB 1:44.18
 6 Michael Rimmer        GBR 1:45.96
 7 Hamza Driouch         QAT 1:47.05
 8 Musaeb Abdulrahman    QAT 1:48.12
 9 Rizak Dirshe          SWE 1:49.79
10 Ismail Ahmed Ismail   SUD 1:50.24

   Ostrava Result:
 1 David Rudisha         KEN 1:44.03 
 2 Boaz Lalang           KEN 1:45.02 
 3 Marcin Lewandowski    POL 1:45.04 
 4 Adam Kszczot          POL 1:45.74 
 5 Jakub Holusa          CZE 1:45.87 
 6 Gary Reed             CAN 1:46.09 
 7 Michael Rimmer        GBR 1:46.47 
 8 Jozef Repcìk          SVK 1:47.41 
 9 Andrew Baddeley       GBR 1:47.46 
10 Antonio Reina         ESP 1:47.75 

It may not have been a very attractive run from a spectators point of view but it sure did the business. Kaki, a heavy favourite to retain his World Indoor title, took the lead straight from the gun with all the others following in single file. Lalang was in second position, Kszczot was third and Kaki's tall compatriot Ismail was in fourth position. As Kaki kept going at a stiff pace that situation never changed. Lalang was never able to seriously threaten Kaki's leading position. Ismail tried to outsprint Kszczot but the Pole kept going well and hung on for the bronze.

And so at only 20 years old Kaki has already two major indoor titles to his name. There are no global outdoor championships this year, so he may be able to concentrate on running fast times at some of the major meetings. If he has any clashes with David Rudisha this season those could prove to be quite a spectacle.

    Result:
 1. Abubaker Kaki         SUD 1:46.23
 2. Boaz Lalang           KEN 1:46.39
 3. Adam Kszczot          POL 1:46.69
 4. Ismail Ahmed Ismail   SUD 1:46.90
 5. Jakub Holusa          CZE 1:47.28
 6. Luis Alberto Marco    ESP 1:48.99

Most athletes seriously start their outdoor seasons around June. Or perhaps in May. That's why meetings early in he season usually don't produce many world class results. And as the Australian summer arrives around Christmas the meetings on Australian soil are usually relatively low key, with at best just the odd noteworthy mark. But this season someone had different ideas.

David Rudisha scored many a fine victory towards the end of 2009, crowning them with an African record. It would not have been strange should he have taken a fair bit of rest after all that - but not so. In Melbourne, as early as March 4th, Rudisha showed he still posseses that stunning speed from last year. He powered away from the field, floated around the curves in a near-solo run, and as the other athletes could only watch in admiration Rudisha crossed the line in 1:43.15.

To see how incredibly fast that is for this time of the season, consider that it is the fastest outdoor time ever recorded before May. And the only other occasion someone ran faster before June was way back in 1990 (Peter Elliott ran 1:42.97, but then that was as late as May 30th). On top of that it is also the fastest mark ever run in Australia. If this is an indication of things to come then Rudisha is bound to make quite a few headlines later this season!

    Result:
 1. David Rudisha         KEN 1:43.15  
 2. Ryan Gregson          AUS 1:46.04  
 3. Tristan Garrett       AUS 1:46.66  
 4. James Gurr            AUS 1:46.77  
 5. Lachlan Renshaw       AUS 1:47.26  
 6. Alexander Rowe        AUS 1:47.56  
 7. Nicholas Bromley      AUS 1:47.60  
 8. Matthew Fox           AUS 1:48.94