DAVID Rudisha retained his Olympic 800m title with an imperious performance.The 27-year-old Kenyan showed his experience to keep his composure after compatriot Alfred Kipketer sprinted clear on the first lap of the race.Rudisha hit the front with about 300m to go as Kipketer started to fade and never looked troubled as he won in one minute 42.15 seconds.
Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi won silver and the fast-finishing Clayton Murphy of the United States took bronze.
Makhloufi ran a new national record of one minute 42.61 seconds and Murphy clocked a personal best of one minute 42.93 seconds in a bizarre race.
Kipketer set out at an incredible pace, going through the first 200m in just 23 seconds.
But the 19-year-old, who had beaten Rudisha in the Kenyan national trials, faded to finish seventh in Rio.
Rudisha’s win made him the first athlete since New Zealand’s Peter Snell in 1964 to retain the men’s 800m Olympic title.
He said: “Running 1:42, it’s just fantastic. I had no doubts before. The feeling in my body was good.
“It is great to win such a big competition, my second gold. It’s so great. I am so excited. It is the greatest moment of my career.”(BBC Sport)