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David Rudisha throws weight behind Wanyonyi to preserve Kenya's 800m dominance in Olympic Games
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Reading Time: 3min | Fri. 08.03.24. | 12:30
Since Kenya's Wilfred Bungei won the 2008 Games in Beijing, no other nationality has won gold in the event
Two time Olympian and World 800m champion David Rudisha strongly believes that Kenya will extend its dominance in the two-lap distance when this year’s Summer Games come calling in Paris in July and August.
Kenya, since claiming the men’s 800m gold in the Beijing Games in 2008, has gone on to win the next three editions - in London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo - and the world record holder in the distance strongly holds on to the nation winning five on the trot.
“We’ve been doing very well in the 800m since Wilfred Bungei won in Beijing and I know that Kenyans believe in the distance,” Rudisha said this week in a sit-down with CNN Sport.
“Now that the record is home, since 2012, every athlete that comes up has a strong feeling about 800m because that’s where most Kenyans start training their competitions.”
Asked about Kenya’s chances this year, the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships Ambassador said: “We have our very own tradition and I believe we have a very good team with Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the silver medalist in Budapest, who might do something special again and it’ll be great for Kenya to win five back to back.”
Kenya’s last gold medal in the distance was won by Emmanuel Korir, who timed 1:45.06 ahead of compatriot Ferguson Rotich in second place.
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Rudisha’s world record set in 2012 stands at 1:40.91, a time though seemingly unbeatable in the last decade, now more than ever due to technological advancements within the sport, is on the brink of being erased.
On seeing it being taken by another athlete at some point in the future, he added: “Everybody feels good to watch a world record,” he said.
“With the future, with the improvement of new shoes, better stadiums … definitely one person will break it. And it will be good also to watch, so that I can also congratulate [them].”
The 35 year old, late last week, alongside Ukraine’s 2008 Olympic heptathlon champion Nataliia Dobrynska, was also among the audience of more than 300 people who gathered for the memorabilia donation ceremony at the MOWA Indoor Athletics Exhibition at the St Enoch Centre, Glasgow, hosted by two-time Olympic 1500m champion Sebastian Coe.
Then, eight global gold medalists and/or world record-breakers gathered to donate historic items of competition memorabilia to the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA).
The athletes included: Steve Cram, Ron Hill (Graham Richards, on behalf of the family of the late Ron Hill), Denise Lewis, Tom McKean, Fiona May, Yvonne Murray-Mooney, John Regis and Allan Wells.
Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are scheduled to run on 1 to 11 August 2024, featuring a total of 48 medal events across three distinct sets: track and field, road running, and racewalking.
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