Ten things you never knew about David Rudisha
David Rudisha trimmed 0.02 from Wilson Kipketer’s world 800m record with a stunning 1:41.09 clocking in Berlin at the weekend. Spikesmag.com provided a quick guide to ten things you, perhaps, never knew about the 21-year-old Kenyan.
***He shares the same agent,
Australian James Templeton, as World Indoor 3000m champion Bernard Lagat.
***His h
ero was two-time world 800m champion Billy Konchellah of Kenya. He said of Konchellah: “I have met Billy many times, and of course he is a huge inspiration to me.” Rudisha was born just 10km from Konchellah’s home.
***
David Rudisha’s father, David, won an Olympic silver medal in the 4x400m at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, who become a huge inspiration. “I realised I could run after finding out my dad used to run and it gave me the morale that if I did it then maybe I could also run.”
His mother, Tamisha, is a popular Kenyan folk singer.
***His is the sixth born of seven children and he spends his time away from
the track farming and herding cattle.
***He is coached by
Irishman Colm O'Connell a member of the brothers of St Patrick’s Catholic order. O’Connell started out as an assistant coach at the world-renowned St Patrick’s High School for Boys in Iten, which has produced a host of top international including 1988 Olympic 1500m champion
Peter Rono and the now former world 800m record holder
Wilson Kipketer.
***Rudisha
stands at 6ft 3ins tall and is one of the world’s tallest 800m runners.
***His first major international success came when winning 800m gold at the
2006 IAAF World Junior Championships in Beijing, where he earned the nickname
“Pride of Africa” (which is the same motto as Kenya Airways, the national air carrier).
***He
started out in athletics in 2004 as a 400m runner and decathlete. He said in and earlier interview: ‘This is common in Kenya – the athletes who are not distance runners often do decathlon. But the pole vault is not so easy.”
***His training partners include
Commonwealth 5000m champion Augustine Choge and 12:48 5000m runner Isaac Songok.
***
He is a member of the Maasai tribe famed for their bravery and steel.