David Rudisha Breaks Wilson Kipketer's World Record In Berlin With A 1:41.09
In Other Action, Caster Semenya Wins, Bernard Lagat Comes Up Short In His American Record Attempt As Tariku Bekele Shines And Silas Kiplagat Turns Things Around

By LetsRun.com
August 22, 2010

*Full Results
*Video Of Rudisha's Run
*Talk Of Rudisha's World Record
*Photos From Berlin

(Editor's Note: Below we recap the men's and women's mid-d and distance events from the 2010 edition of ISTAF Berlin)

21-year-old Kenyan David Rudisha broke the world record in the men's 800 by running 1:41.09 at the ISTAF Berlin meeting today. Rudisha's time eclipses Wilson Kipketer's world record of 1:41.11 just two days shy of that record's 13th anniversary, as Kipketer ran that time on August 24, 1997 in Cologne, Germany.

David Lekuta Rudisha of Kenya poses next to the electronic time board after setting a new world record following the men's 800m competition at the ISTAF Berlin Grand Prix athletics, August 22, 2010. Rudushia clocked at time of one minute 41.09 secoonds. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch (GERMANY - Tags: SPORT ATHLETICS IMAGES OF THE DAY)

As our friends at sportsscientists.com pointed out, Rudisha's splits were very similar to what Kipketer ran when he set his final world record. Today in Berlin, Kenya's Sammy Tangui rabbited the race and did a good job as he hit 400 in 48.65. Rudisha trailed by a few meters and came through 400 in 49-low (we had him .5 to .6 behind Tangui). Tangui then got out of the way just past the 450 meter mark and the rest was all Rudisha. Rudisha then came through 600 in 1:14:54 before coming home in 26.55 to get the record. We highly recommend that you watch the race video as it's a thing of beauty.

Rudisha came into the race undefeated on the year at 800 - a perfect eight for eight - and with the world's top time, as earlier in the year, he'd become just the fourth man under 1:42 thanks to a 1:41.51 clocking in Belgium.

After the race, Rudisha was obviously pleased to have gotten the record.

David Lekuta Rudisha of Kenya crosses the finish line to set a new world record in the men's 800m at the ISTAF Berlin Grand Prix athletics, August 22, 2010. Rudushia clocked at time of one minute 41.09 secoonds. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch (GERMANY - Tags: SPORT ATHLETICS)

"Last year, I had a bad time in Berlin. The weather was not very good, and I did not make it into the final," said Rudisha talking about his flameout at the World Championships last year, when he shockingly failed to advance out of the semifinals. "So I did not want to talk too much about the world record before the race. But today I knew it is my day. I trained very hard, the weather was good. I told the pacemaker to run the first lap under 49 seconds. He did a great job. The last 200 metres I had to push very hard. But I saw the clock - 1:41.09 at the end - fantastic. I am very happy to be the fastest 800 metres runner in the world. The crowd was fantastic."

Earlier in the week, after we had a post in our weekly recap that asked when Rudisha would be racing next, LetsRun.com received an email from Rudisha's agent, Australian James Templeton. The email outlined their plans for Rudisha for the rest of the season. It's clear that the Rudisha team's plan of getting in some training after the African championships worked brilliantly. Templeton's email read in part:

    "There are some good races still to come (Berlin, Brussels, Rieti, Split ... yes of course he will run some of these starting with Berlin) and he has been training well since (the) African Championships in order (to) come out and impress in these last weeks. You might recall he had a great finish to last year and that is his intention again this year ...

    If he had come straight from Nairobi and run Stockholm and London I dare say he would be fading by season-end. This way he comes into them fresh and hungry to run fast.  I would have thought that is prudent. No it does not come down to money; we’ve had a good season and there is a good bit left in the tank."

As Templeton's email indicates, last year Rudisha took a break from racing from late July to mid August and his fastest time of the year came after the break. In 2009, Rudisha didn't race from July 25 until August 20th. Prior to August, his seasonal best was 1:43.53. In Rieti on September 6th, he ran 1:42.01.

In Berlin today, American Leonel Manzano was also in the race and set a new personal best of 1:44.56 to finish fourth. Manzano came into the race with a PR of 1:45.41. Coming into the year, his personal best was just 1:46.20 (results and a recap of other races appear below).

Rank  Athlete Nation Result
1  RUDISHA, David Lekuta
KEN
WR 1:41.09
2  LALANG, Boaz Kiplagat
KEN
1:44.34
3  KIPLAGAT, Abraham
KEN
1:44.49
4  MANZANO, Leonel
USA
PB 1:44.56
5  KIVUVA, Jackson Mumbwa
KEN
1:44.91
6  KSZCZOT, Adam
POL
PB 1:45.07
7  ALI, Belal Mansoor
BRN
1:45.28
8  MUTUA, David Mutinda
KEN
PB 1:45.97
9  YEGO, Alfred Kirwa
KEN
1:46.84
10  LUDOLPH, Sören
GER
1:47.83
   TANGUI, Sammy
KEN
DNF
 Intermediate times:
  400m 93  Tangui, Sammy (KEN) 48.65  
  600m 92  RUDISHA, David Lekuta (KEN) 1:14.54  

Other Action - Semenya Breaks 2:00 In Women's 800
The women's 800 provided some highlights as well, as 2009 world champion Caster Semenya returned to the stadium where she won the world title last year before taking a hiatus as controversy swirled around her gender. Semenya won the race in 1:59.90 and was the only runner in the field under 2:00. (You have to see the race video to see what a mockery Semenya made of the field with only a .5 second victory. She weaved in and out the last 100m to get the win). She was pleased to get her third straight win and third straight seasonal best (Semenya's two other 800s this year were run in 2:04.22 and 2:02.41).

"It feels good to be back in Berlin. I did not think about everything that happened after my gold medal, I just concentrated on my race and on my time. My goal was to run under two minutes and I achieved my goal. When I won the race and came first on the home straight, this brought back memories of the 2009 final to me," Semenya told the meet organizers after the race. "After my training I was a little bit disappointed with my competition results this year but now I am happy because I can see the progress. My next competition will be Brussels on the 27th and then I am looking forward to the Commonwealth Games."

Rank  Athlete Nation Result
1  SEMENYA, Caster
RSA
SB 1:59.90
2  KOECH, Cherono
KEN
PB 2:00.40
3  CUSMA PICCIONE, Elisa
ITA
2:00.44
4  SIMPSON, Jemma
GBR
2:00.57
5  WURTH-THOMAS, Christin
USA
SB 2:00.61
6  PLIS, Renata
POL
PB 2:00.76
7  SUM, Eunice
KEN
2:00.79
8  CUMMINS, Diane
CAN
2:01.11
9  KOHLMANN, Fabienne
GER
2:01.12
10  MASNÁ, Lenka
CZE
2:02.96
11  BECKWITH, Molly
USA
2:04.52
   TVERDOSTUP, Tamara
UKR
DNF
 Intermediate times:
  400m 73  Tverdostup, Tamara (UKR) 58.48  
  600m 63  Wurth-Thomas, Christin (USA) 1:29.51  

Men's 3,000: Lagat Fails To Get American Record As Tariku Bekele Shines
The men's 3,000 was hyped as an American record attempt by Bernard Lagat, who was hoping to Break Bob Kennedy's AR of 7:30.84 from 1998. Lagat, who had run 7:32.49 in Ostrava in May, didn't have the goods at the end of the race and ended up 7th in 7:35.11. The race was won by Ethiopia's Tariku Bekele, who had a great outing for the second time in three days. Bekele, who won the 5,000 in Zürich on Thursday, set a world-leading mark of 7:28.99 to eclipse his personal best of 7:29.11 from 2006.

"Before the race I talked with Bernard Lagat about how I could help him with the pace to break the American record," said Bekele. "The weather here is hot and dry and this dryness gave me difficulties during the first two laps. But then I got into the race and felt better and better. On the last two laps I knew that I could take the lead. After this race I see that my shape is really good. I wanted to run unter 7:30 and it is not easy to do so on this track and in this big stadium where one has the impression that these many spectators take all the oxygen from you. My next competition will be the Continental Cup in Split."

Rank  Athlete Nation Result
1  BEKELE, Tariku
ETH
WL, MR 7:28.99
2  CHEPKOK, Vincent Kiprop
KEN
PB 7:31.41
3  SOI, Edwin Cheruiyot
KEN
SB 7:33.21
4  KIPKOECH, John
KEN
7:33.85
5  LONGOSIWA, Thomas Pkemei
KEN
7:33.89
6  CHESHARI, Jacob Korir
KEN
PB 7:34.71
7  LAGAT, Bernard
USA
7:35.11
8  BETT, David Kiprotich
KEN
PB 7:37.51
9  SIMOTWO, Suleiman Kipses
KEN
PB 7:40.26
10  BIWOTT, Yusuf Kibet
KEN
7:43.66
11  SONGOK, Isaac Kiprono
KEN
SB 7:45.12
12  PFLIEGER, Philipp
GER
8:02.28
13  MEUCCI, Daniele
ITA
8:07.64
   BIRGEN, Bethwell
KEN
DNF
   GABIUS, Arne
GER
DNF
   HEATH, Garrett
USA
DNF
   SHAHEEN, Saif Saaeed
QAT
DNF
 Intermediate times:
  1000m 61  Heath, Garrett (USA) 2:29.87  
  2000m 60  Birgen, Bethwell (KEN) 5:02.27  

Men's 1,500: World Leader Silas Kiplagat Turns Things Around
2010 World leader Silas Kiplagat turned things around and gave himself a nice belated birthday present, as two days after his 21st birthday, he earned his second win on the European circuit with a dominant victory in 3:30.61. Since running the fastest 1,500 time in four years (3:29.27) in Monaco on July 22nd, Kiplagat had only finished fourth in the African champs and seventh in London.

"I am very happy. The race was very good for me," said Kiplagat. "Tactically, that is how I like it. In the last lap, I could enjoy the atmosphere. But I had to push a little bit. My next race will be in Rieti."

Rank  Athlete Nation Result
1  KIPLAGAT, Silas
KEN
3:30.61
2  GEBREMEDHIN, Mekonnen
ETH
PB 3:31.57
3  CHOGE, Augustine Kiprono
KEN
3:31.81
4  CASADO, Arturo
ESP
PB 3:32.70
5  RONO, Geoffrey Kipkoech
KEN
SB 3:32.82
6  KOMBICH, Ismael Kipngetich
KEN
3:34.29
7  LANCASHIRE, Thomas
GBR
SB 3:34.59
8  KAMEL, Yusuf Saad
BRN
3:35.66
9  SCHLANGEN, Carsten
GER
SB 3:36.50
10  FERNÁNDEZ, Ãlvaro
ESP
3:37.13
11  CHEBOI, Collins
KEN
3:37.43
12  KOWAL, Yoann
FRA
3:38.19
13  VAN DER WESTHUIZEN, Peter
RSA
3:44.06
   CONRAD, Martin
GER
DNF
   DABA, Demma
ETH
DNF
   KEMBOI, Nicholas Kiptanui
KEN
DNF
   WALDMANN, Moritz
GER
DNF

*Full Results
*Video Of Rudisha's Run
*Talk Of Rudisha's World Record
*Photos From Berlin


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