Superman Rudisha does it again!

Rieti is often a perfect track for middle distance running. Many athletes have run their personal best times on the Italian track and several world records have been established here as well. So it was hardly a surprise that the athlete of the year, David Rudisha, decided to have one more go at a really fast time and perhaps a new world record.

The pacing was perfect and Rudisha was digging really deep in the final straight to finish his season on a high, and he duly delivered, shaving another eight hundredths of a second off his own mark of just a few weeks ago. Tantalizingly he was just 0.02 away from being the first ever athlete to run a 1:40. And that barrier may remain intact for several more years, because David Rudisha's goal for the next two seasons will be to win World and Olympic titles rather than to improve his own world record.

   Result:
 1 David Rudisha         KEN   1:41.01
 2 Boaz Lalang           KEN   1:42.95
 3 Nick Symmonds         USA   1:43.76
 4 Michael Rimmer        GBR   1:43.89
 5 Marcin Lewandowski    POL   1:44.10
 6 Arturo Casado         ESP   1:44.74

Ever closer to the barrier of 1:41. Rudisha with his new World Record time.

 David Rudisha wins the Diamond League

Although the night was chilly in Brussels the heat was on in the Diamond League final. And the 800 m final could have been tight, and Abubaker Kaki certainly produced yet another fine run finishing below 1"44 for the fifth time this season. But David Rudisha showed once more he is the man of the moment. He followed the pacemakers, took the lead when they were done and never looked back. It was all as simple as that. I didn't look for any records tonight, I just wanted to win said David after his clinical victory. On his current form nobody is able to match his pace.

   Result:
 1 David Rudisha         KEN   1:43.50
 2 Abubaker Kaki         SUD   1:43.84
 3 Boaz Lalang           KEN   1:44.29
 4 Marcin Lewandowski    POL   1:44.97
 5 Jackson Kivuna        KEN   1:45.62
 6 David Mutua           KEN   1:45.90
 6 Antonio Reina         ESP   1:45.97
 8 Duane Solomon         USA   1:46.17
 9 Bilal Mansour Ali     BRN   1:46.74
10 Bram Som              NED   1:48.06

David Rudisha once more showed his class beating Abubaker Kaki and claiming the win in the Diamond League Final.

 Incredible Rudisha sets new World Record

The blue track of Berlin did not bring any happy memories to David Rudisha. Last year in the World Championships the weather turned unusually cold just before the semifinals and unaccustomed to this David just missed the final.

But this year the weather was perfect and so David decided to really go for the world record. Pacemaker Sammy Tangui did his job perfectly, and with long strides David sped to the line. And when the clock stopped at 1:41.09, everybody knew that Kipketer's mark of 1:41.11, set at Cologne 13 years ago, had finally been broken. But the new mark may not stand that long, because Rudisha felt afterwards he may run even faster!

   Result:
 1 David Rudisha         KEN 1:41.09
 2 Boaz Lalang           KEN 1:44.34
 3 Abraham Kiplagat      KEN 1:44.49
 4 Leonel Manzano        USA 1:44.56
 5 Jackson Kivuna        KEN 1:44.91
 6 Adam Kszczot          POL 1:45.07
 7 Bilal Mansour Ali     BRN 1:45.28
 8 David Mutua           KEN 1:45.97
 9 Alfred Kirwa Yego     KEN 1:46.84
10 Sören Ludolph         GER 1:47.83

Revenge is sweet. David Rudisha sets a new world record in Berlin. A year ago he was eliminated at the WC semis in Berlin but this time he ran a near perfect race and broke Kipketers mark.

 Abubaker Kaki fights back in the Diamond League.

Abubaker Kaki may not lead the Diamond League, he still has an amazing season with many highlights and also a few misfortunes. Even though he came second he still set a new National record in Oslo. In Paris he won a fast race and took the Diamond win. He dominated the field in Monaco in an even faster race, although unluckily for him that didn't count towards the Diamond league. In Stockholm the race did count but Kaki was unfortunate to run into the pacemaker which forced him out of the race. In London he was the strongest again but then that one didn't yield any Diamond points. And so after all that he could still win the Diamond League - but a win in the final race is needed.

   Paris result:
 1 Abubaker Kaki         SUD 1:43.50 
 2 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi     RSA 1:44.11
 3 Bram Som              NED 1:44.58
 4 Andrew Wheating       USA 1:44.62
 5 Jackson Kivuna        KEN 1:44.62
 6 Nick Symmonds         USA 1:44.93
 7 Augustine Choge       KEN 1:45.61
 8 Richard Kiplagat      KEN 1:45.81
 9 Hamid Oualich         FRA 1:46.85

Another victory. Abubaker Kaki wins the 800 race at the Herculis Monaco meeting. Mulaudzi and Lalang are unable to match the speed of the young Sudanese athlete.

   Monaco result:
 1 Abubaker Kaki         SUD 1:43.10
 2 Boaz Lalang           KEN 1:43.29
 3 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi     RSA 1:43.29
 4 Jackson Kivuna        KEN 1:43.72
 5 Abraham Kiplagat      KEN 1:43.77
 6 Nick Symmonds         USA 1:44.06
 7 David Torrence        USA 1:45.14
 8 Belal Mansoor Ali     BRN 1:45.46
 9 Brice Etes            MON 1:47.61
10 Jeff Lastennet        FRA 1:48.44

   London result:
 1 Abubaker Kaki         SUD 1:44.38
 2 Andrew Wheating       USA 1:44.56
 3 Nick Symmonds         USA 1:45.28
 4 Darren St.Clair       GBR 1:45.74
 5 Jackson Kivuna        KEN 1:45.89
 6 Alfred Kirwa Yego     KEN 1:45.91
 7 Gareth Warburton      GBR 1:46.47
 8 Michael Rimmer        GBR 1:46.51
 9 Abraham Kiplagat      KEN 1:46.83
10 Niall Brooks          GBR 1:47.41

 David Rudisha is the fastest man in Africa

The African Championships were held in Nairobi, and of course David Rudisha wanted to show the home crowd what he is capable of these days. And the fans were certainly not disappointed as Rudisha turned out to be far superior to the others and finished a full two seconds ahead of them. Kenya could celebrate a clean sweep as the silver and bronze were taken by Kenyan athletes as well.

Not only that, but David Rudisha took his chance to secure one more entry into the record books. He ran the fastest time ever recorded on African soil, improving the mark set by Japheth Kimutai in 2003 by nearly a second.

   Result:
 1 David Rudisha         KEN 1:42.84
 2 Alfred Kirwa Yego     KEN 1:44.85
 3 Jackson Kivuna        KEN 1:45.47
 4 Shiferaw Wole         ETH 1:46.39
 5 Mouhcine El Amine     MAR 1:47.18
 6 Mor Seck              SEN 1:47.61
 7 Severin Sahinkuye     BDI 1:48.36
 8 Windy Jonas           RSA 1:49.08

Number one once more. David Rudisha celebrates his victory at the African games. Not only did he win a gold medal, he also ran the fastest time ever seen on African soil.

 Marcin Lewandowski takes European title.

He may have been one of the favourites, and he managed to win the title in the end, but it was not exactly a stroll in the park for Marcin Lewandowski. Michael Rimmer set a decent pace and dictated the race from the front, compatriot Adam Kszczot was close behind and any weakness would surely have been exploited by them. But Marcin Lewandowski had shown earlier in the season he can handle all kinds of paces and race situations. He was the only European to go sub-1:44 this year so far and had finished as first European in several races. On the final straight he managed to get past Rimmer and to hold off the challenge of Kszczot, thus showing that he was really the strongest on the day.

   Result:
 1 Marcin Lewandowski    POL 1:47.07  
 2 Michael Rimmer        GBR 1:47.17  
 3 Adam Kszczot          POL 1:47.22  
 4 Arnoud Okken          NED 1:47.31  
 5 Jakub Holusa          CZE 1:47.45  
 6 Kevin López           ESP 1:47.82  
 7 Luis Alberto Marco    ESP 1:48.42  
 8 Hamid Oualich         FRA 1:49.77 

European Champion Marcin Lewandowski celebrates his victory. After a fierce battle he managed to beat his rivals on the final straight.

 David Rudisha edges closer to world record.

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. 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's 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

Incredible Rudisha. In Heusden he ran the fastest time of the 21st century, was less than half a second away from a new world record and became second fastest ever in a new African record.

 David Rudisha rules the Diamond League.

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

David Rudisha has his first real battle of the season in the Oslo race but emerges as the winner. Abubaker Kaki came really close and ran a personal best but had to be content with second place.

 David Rudisha still in excellent form.

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 

David Rudisha strides home to win the first ever Diamond League 800m race. Although several other competitors ran excellent times none of them could stay close to the supreme Kenyan.

 Abubaker Kaki again World Indoor Champion.

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

Mission completed. Abubaker Kaki has succesfully defended his World Indoor Championship title using very simple tactics. None of his rivals even managed to threaten his early leading position.

 Rudisha's stunning early pace

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 

Early speed! David Rudisha opens his outdoor season in impressive way in Melbourne. His time will be the fastest ever on Australian soil and also the fastest outdoor time ever recorded before May.