MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – World record-holder David Rudisha has set his sights on breaking the one minute 40 seconds barrier in the 800 metres.
The 22-year-old Kenyan, also firmly focused on winning this year’s world title, shattered Wilson Kipketer’s 13-year-old mark in Berlin last year and shaved the record down to 1:41.01 seconds.
Rudisha kicked off his season on Thursday with a time of one minute 43.88 seconds to retain his title at the Melbourne Track Classic and he believes running under 1:40 is possible.
“It’s not something easy, but we’re very focused that we can do that. We can try to do that,” Rudisha told Reuters at Melbourne’s Olympic Park after winning his race by more than a second. “I just feel like right now, I’m just at 80 percent. There’s a lot more improvement before London (2012 Olympics).”
Rudisha, who stands 1.88m tall and appears to glide effortlessly around the track, said he was unlikely to challenge his record before the Aug. 27-Sept. 4 world championships in Daegu, South Korea.
PERMANENT LEDGER
Despite the fame and celebrity stemming from his achievements last season, Rudisha relishes the chance to etch his name in a more permanent ledger, wary of the vulnerability of records to the passage of time. “The world championship is different. It’s something special if you get it,” said Rudisha, whose failure to make the 800 final at the 2009 Berlin world championships was the biggest disappointment of his young career. “Your name will never be forgotten. Having the world record sometimes, someone can come along and break it, but if you get the world championship medal or an Olympic medal nobody comes to take that from you.” Beyond Daegu looms the London Olympics and Rudisha’s motivation for success in 2012 is much closer to home.
His father Daniel won an Olympic silver medal as a member of Kenya’s 4×400 relay team in Mexico in 1968. David Rudisha was born in Kenya’s Rift Valley, famous as a breeding-ground for world-class distance athletes, and ran with his father from a young age.
Seeing his father’s pride when he returned home with the record was a highlight of the lengthy celebrations in Kenya that held up his preparations for his 2011 campaign.
“Our focus was to say that I would get an Olympic medal to add to our family,” said Rudisha, who lives near the Rift Valley town of Eldoret with his wife and baby daughter. “It would be something special. If I can get that gold it would be very great for me.
“It’s going to take a lot of concentration and training. I’m just going to prepare and do my best.”
