Paris Olympics: Will Rudisha's 12-year old record go down?

Will David Rudisha’s 800m record, which has stood for 12 years, go down in the Paris Olympic Games?

This is a question that must have definitely crossed the minds of many athletics enthusiasts heading to the Games given the breathtaking times posted by some of the medal prospects in the season.

Rudisha obliterated the record during the 2012 London Olympics after clocking 1:40.91, time which has withered all tests since then.

This season has witnessed two athletes lay bare their intentions, of breaking the record ,although pundits opine that, it will be a tall order for the duo to do so considering that championships is a different ball game.

Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati have given a hint of how fierce the battle for the gold will be in Paris and at the same time, a possibility of the record going down.

The latter will however require the two to pull something extraordinary to achieve it.

Sedjati is the third fastest athlete in the two-lap race following the world-leading 1:41.46 recorded during the Paris Diamond League earlier in the month.

The impressive time set in the French capital came hardly five days after timing 1:41.56 during the Monaco Diamond League.

What makes it interesting is before Sedjati ran the third-best time and a world lead in the season, the titles were in possession of Wanyonyi.

The world silver medalist clocked 1:41.70 during the trials held at the Nyayo National Stadium in June, to book a ticket to the Games in a spectacular fashion.

Wanyonyi was at the risk of failing to secure the ticket after tripping in day one of the trials but was included in the final upon successful appeal.

He improved his personal best during the Paris Diamond League after finishing second behind Sedjati who won the race by two hundredths of a second.

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Wanyonyi stopped the clock in 1:41.58.

Going the rivalry the two have had just weeks before the Games, it remains to be seen whether they will break the record that they have twice threatened to shatter in the season.

Will Kenya extend 800m Olympics dominance?

Kenya has enjoyed uninterrupted success in the men’s 800m race in four successive Olympic Games.

In the absence of defending champion Emmanuel Korir, Wanyonyi, Commonwealth Games Champion Wycliffe Kinyamal and the fast-rising Kidali Koitatoi will be tasked with ensuring that Kenya retains the title.

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Again, Sedjati will offer a massive competition to the Kenyan trio as he hopes to medal in the Games.

The 25-year-old clinched silver during the 2021 rescheduled World Athletics, finishing behind Korir in a race in which Canadian Marco Arop settled for bronze.

Arop, who heads to the Games with a world title under his belt, is among the athletes who will look to spoil it for Kenyans.

World bronze medalist Ben Pattison,demonstrated that he, has what it takes to mine a medal in Paris after running the second fastest time ever by a British athlete in Monaco where he clocked 1:42.27.

Home boy Gabriel Tual has also been in fine form as evidenced in the time he posted in Paris Diamond League.

He clocked a National Record of 1:41.61 and his times in the season have been nothing but impressive.

The three Kenyans will be debuting at the Olympics although it will not be an entirely new environment for Wanyonyi and Kinyamal as they have participated in global championships before.

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Kidali has taken part in five races outside the country and boasts of a personal best of 142.66 recorded during the trials at Nyayo.

The 21-year-old also specializes in 400m and 1500m races.

The semifinals of the race are set to go down on August 9 with the final being held a day later.