ROME, (Reuters) – Kenya’s David Rudisha lowered the  800 metres world record to 1 minute 41.01 at a meeting in Rieti  in Italy Sunday, just a week after first breaking the record.

The 21-year-old, who broke the record that had stood for 13  years in Berlin last Sunday when he ran 1:41.09, powered down  the home straight at the IAAF World Challenge meeting to easily  better that mark.

Denmark’s Wilson Kipketer set 1.41.11 in 1997 in Cologne,  Germany but Rudisha has suddenly ripped up the record books  twice and told Reuters on yesterday he can go even quicker in his  pursuit of world and Olympic gold.    Last year at Rieti he had told the crowd he would “return to  do something great”.

Rudisha, who made a surprise semi-final exit at the Berlin  world championships last year, is the son of Daniel Rudisha who  was a member of the 4x400m Olympics silver-winning relay team in  Mexico City in 1968.

The small city of Rieti near Rome, celebrating the 40th  anniversary of its meet, has a long heritage of records being  broken at the quaint track and Jamaica’s Nesta Carter also ran  the joint-fastest 100 metres this year to win the final.

He scorched down the track in 9.78, equalling Tyson Gay’s  effort at the London Diamond League meeting earlier this month.

American Ryan Bailey and Jamaican Mario Forsythe ran  personal bests of 9.88 and 9.95 for second and third while  France’s European champion Christophe Lemaitre set a national  record of 9.97 in fourth.

Olympic 110m hurdles bronze medallist David Oliver of the  United States, who has been enjoying a stunning season, failed  in his bid to break the world record but set a meeting record of  13.01 despite hitting two hurdles.

Italy is again the focus for athletics today when world  800m champion Caster Semenya and 2004 100m Olympic champion  Justin Gatlin are in action in Rovereto.