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I was thinking: hello, this is going to be special. We did not have to exchange a word, we knew what we were witnessing. At the rate he was going, David Rudisha was going to break the world record.
For me, the 800m record is the iconic one. For years Seb Coe’s stood unchallenged, the track version of Bob Beamon’s: untouchable. To see the record broken was special enough. But that race was the best I have ever seen.
If we had just had Rudisha front-running it would have been astonishing enough. But what was so incredible was the way he dragged the other guys through at such a pace.
Poor Andrew Osagie. He ran a personal best, the fourth fastest 800 by a Briton of all time and he finished last. With that time, Osagie would have won gold in Beijing.
I have seen Rudisha destroy fields before. But to do it to an Olympic field was extraordinary. I know I might be a little biased, but for me, to see a middle distance runner go off like that, it made it the performance of the Games so far. He ran the first 200 incredibly hard, wanting to run the legs off the field. But they stuck with him. So he was obliged to kick again. And that kick on the back straight was simply incredible to watch.
To kick off from an already fast race, with young Nijel Amos closing up, that was the sign of a true great.
A lot of people were touched when Rudisha made that very generous remark about Seb afterwards, saying his win was dedicated to the architect of these Games.
I was not surprised by that. Rudisha is a student of his discipline. His father encouraged him always to study the history of the 800m. Hence the first time I was introduced to him he knew exactly who I was.
That is only right. You should be aware of who came before you in your sport, if nothing else, to work out what they did right or wrong. You can learn from them.
While Rudisha is around, the winners at this distance will be those who have come from 400m. Seb dominated as a 1500m runner going the shorter distance. But David runs like a 400m athlete: flat out from the start, yet still keeping something in the tank to kick on at the last.
Usain Bolt used to be a 400m runner, so there has been some speculation about who would win between them over that distance. People have called it the clash of the super runners.
Before anyone spends an awful lot of money on trying to persuade them to compete against each other, I can save them the bother: Bolt would win. He is a sprinter, Rudisha is a middle distance man. End of argument.
We might also wonder what Osagie can learn from participating in the final. Beforehand I said he might have stood a chance of a medal. Here was my thinking: I knew Rudisha would go off like the clappers and I thought a lot of the younger lads in the field would chase him out. I suspected Rudisha would see them off, breaking number of them as a result. Andrew could have picked them off and, maybe if he ran sub 1-44, got himself a medal. But they were not destroyed; they kept running, even as Rudisha went ever faster. Andrew ran sub 1-44 but ended up right at the back.
I spoke to his coach afterwards. He said Andrew was a bit shell-shocked. I can understand that; I came second last in my first Olympics. When over that distance looks back, though, he will be very pleased. He got to a final. That is the first step. From there he could go on to win medals. He has the ability.
As for Rudisha, he is going to get better. He is special even by Kenyan standards. He is only 23 and I reckon he can run sub 1-40.
People say that is almost unthinkable. But then nobody could have dreamed that we were going to get a race like Thursday night.
In fact, everything about this Olympics has surpassed every expectation. Give or take the odd athlete whose performance has not been what they might have wished, every event I have witnessed has been superb. The British public has embraced it in a way no one could have envisaged. You can tell how great it has been when the only negative thing anyone can say is: how are we going to cope when this is all over?
Mind you, they have a point. Going back to the real world after watching that race will take some doing.
he wants to race Bolt in the 400soothsayer wrote:Rudisha guy is amazing.... I have far more respect for guys who run mid distance races than the sprinters, the lactic acid build up makes the race not just against opponents but against your own body...
What Rudisha did was amazing... he ran that race like a 400m sprint. He one of the greatest runs I seen...
Who was the famous 200m specialist that converted to the 400m run and still smashed it? Was it Michael Johnson?Tbite wrote:he wants to race Bolt in the 400soothsayer wrote:Rudisha guy is amazing.... I have far more respect for guys who run mid distance races than the sprinters, the lactic acid build up makes the race not just against opponents but against your own body...
What Rudisha did was amazing... he ran that race like a 400m sprint. He one of the greatest runs I seen...
Bolt did run the 400 in his younger days
yes. and he has the WR i believe...as well as 2 Olympic golds at that distanceDamunk wrote:Who was the famous 200m specialist that converted to the 400m run and still smashed it? Was it Michael Johnson?Tbite wrote:he wants to race Bolt in the 400soothsayer wrote:Rudisha guy is amazing.... I have far more respect for guys who run mid distance races than the sprinters, the lactic acid build up makes the race not just against opponents but against your own body...
What Rudisha did was amazing... he ran that race like a 400m sprint. He one of the greatest runs I seen...
Bolt did run the 400 in his younger days
Bolt said that he might consider it. There are also 400 runners that run 200. Sanya Richards-Ross is one of them.Damunk wrote:Who was the famous 200m specialist that converted to the 400m run and still smashed it? Was it Michael Johnson?Tbite wrote:he wants to race Bolt in the 400soothsayer wrote:Rudisha guy is amazing.... I have far more respect for guys who run mid distance races than the sprinters, the lactic acid build up makes the race not just against opponents but against your own body...
What Rudisha did was amazing... he ran that race like a 400m sprint. He one of the greatest runs I seen...
Bolt did run the 400 in his younger days
Michael Johnson did not exactly convert into quarter miler; he was actually doing the two races. He was the first athlete to be Collegiate No 1 in both 200 & 400m in 1990. He missed the 1998 US trials due to injury though he took part only in the 400m where he did not qualify. He, however, came to limelight in Tokyo 91, where he won the 200m gold. It's probably cos of this that people think he did only 400m but he had been doing both before this time. In Barcelona 92, after food poisoning affected him in the 200m, he ran one leg in the record breaking 4x400m relay race and in the Worlds of 93, his split time in the same relay race remains the fastest time ever in the 400m. In fact, in this Stuttgart Worlds, he did only the 400m, if I remember very well.B!GGESTMAN wrote:yes. and he has the WR i believe...as well as 2 Olympic golds at that distanceDamunk wrote:Who was the famous 200m specialist that converted to the 400m run and still smashed it? Was it Michael Johnson?Tbite wrote:he wants to race Bolt in the 400soothsayer wrote:Rudisha guy is amazing.... I have far more respect for guys who run mid distance races than the sprinters, the lactic acid build up makes the race not just against opponents but against your own body...
What Rudisha did was amazing... he ran that race like a 400m sprint. He one of the greatest runs I seen...
Bolt did run the 400 in his younger days
You may even go back to Valerie Brisco 84 Olympics and Marie Josee Perec in Atlanta 96 for double gold medalists in the events.Tbite wrote:Bolt said that he might consider it. There are also 400 runners that run 200. Sanya Richards-Ross is one of them.Damunk wrote:Who was the famous 200m specialist that converted to the 400m run and still smashed it? Was it Michael Johnson?Tbite wrote:he wants to race Bolt in the 400soothsayer wrote:Rudisha guy is amazing.... I have far more respect for guys who run mid distance races than the sprinters, the lactic acid build up makes the race not just against opponents but against your own body...
What Rudisha did was amazing... he ran that race like a 400m sprint. He one of the greatest runs I seen...
Bolt did run the 400 in his younger days
Sprinting really doesn't restrict you to 100,200 or 400. Runners in the various distances can do a mixture, it comes down to their workrate and their determination.
Bolt & Powell etc are not said to be built for the 100m. Yet Bolt defied others, including his father and said he will run the 100m and he did it. Michael Johnson ran the 400m in an unconventional but efficient way and he set the WC. Bolt like I said...ran the 400m more than he did the 100m in his younger days and he even has some youth medals in that distance....but it comes down the the motivation.
the 400 has a much more brutal curve and the training process is quite immense, for example Bolt would never run it.....it wouldn't be worth it...unless he thought it was required to prove something. the last stretch of the 400m itself is brutal.
So it all depends on what Bolt wants to do.......he can set his own boundaries. Rudisha has done pretty much the same thing that botl did in Beijing, he didn't simply win he boosted the sport not just superficially but also in terms of performance. So they have set the standard. It would be good to see a exhibition 400m race between the Kings of the sprints & the middle distance.
It won't be the first time that 2 specialists have begged the question of supremacy. Johnson challenged Donovan Bailey and led to the 150m exhibition race.
NoCoach wrote:Superb muscle endurance, is he on steroids?