Pretty interesting stuff. I think Rudisha's strategy of coming from behind was brilliant. I actually think he would have won had he been used to running from behind and was able to get in a good spot (or had there not been so many people in the field).
He's just not used to it and wasnt' comfortable. It reminded me of a HSer who is used to dominating trying to run in a pack.
He never got close to the rail.He ran the ENTIRE race in lane 2 or 3. Think about how much extra ground he ran. He was 3 wide for the entire race.
Final
Pl. Athlete Nat. Birth Result
1. Nijel AMOS BOT 94 1:43.77
2. Ayanleh SOULEIMAN DJI 92 1:43.93
3. David RUDISHA KEN 88 1:43.96
4. Ferguson Rotich CHERUIYOT KEN 89 1:44.42
5. Pierre-Ambroise BOSSE FRA 92 1:44.69
6. Marcin LEWANDOWSKI POL 87 1:44.75
7. Adam KSZCZOT POL 89 1:44.84
8. Mohammed AMAN ETH 94 1:45.01
9. Andre OLIVIER RSA 89 1:45.11
10. Timothy KITUM KEN 94 1:45.22
11. Asbel KIPROP KEN 89 1:45.26
- Sammy TANGUI KEN 84 DNF
This was a rare race where I think the commentating by Hutchings came up short. if I was the announcer, i would have been going bonkers and so excited that Rudisha was trying to run from behind. A historic attempt.
Rudisha was upbeat aftewards in a BBC intervie with Jonathan Edwards.
'Yeah, it has been a tough season for me since my preparation wasn't perfect this year because of a problem I had, but I'm happy now that i've ended the season here. I'm looking forward to next year."
"It's been tough but I just want to assure my fans it's only because I didnt have the winter preparation. I started my training in March which is very late.I started the season as 60 or 70% and it's hard to go from there as I didn't have the foundation."