Returning Rudisha flops in Oregon

The eagerly-awaited return of World record holder and Olympics 800m champion David Rudisha came a cropper when the athlete was beaten in the 800m race at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League Meeting on Saturday.

On Saturday night, Kenya’s male athletes failed to win a race for the first time in the Prefontaine Classic when World 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop lost the Bowerman Mile race title but female athletes Hellen Obiri and Mery Cherono came to the rescue.

Running assertively in third place for most of the 1,500m race, the 24-year-old Obiri surged over the final curve and sprinted to victory in a world-leading 3:57.05 to beat 2011 world champion Jenny Simpson and reigning world champion Abeba Aregawi of Sweden.

PERSONAL BEST

Cherono won the Two Mile race in 9:13.27, beating compatriot Viola Kibiwott, who ran personal best in 9:13.48.

Rudisha, the Olympic 800m champion and world record-holder (1:40.91), put forth a gallant effort before fading to seventh place in his first race in nearly a year due to a knee injury. Olympics 800m silver medallist Nijel Amos of Botswana won in a world-leading 1:43.63 to break the meeting record.

“It was tough, but I’m happy to have run 1:44,” said Rudisha, who referred to his performance as good start after running 1:44.87.

Rudisha looked a lot like his peak self during the early goings of the race. His stride hardly looked laboured during the opening 400m, as he followed right behind the pacemaker through the halfway point in 49.82.

It is normally at this point where Rudisha begins to open up his stride and pull away from the field, but that next gear was clearly absent from Rudisha’s arsenal. He had no answer for the surge that followed in the final 200 metres and was eventually swallowed up by six runners.

“In the beginning, I started pushing,” said Rudisha, whose seventh-place time of 1:44.87 was nearly four seconds slower than his world record of 1:40.91 from the London Olympics. “Only the last 100m was a little bit tough. I started a bit late with my training this year, only in March, due to the knee problems. It has been like a crash programme to get ready.

Amos broke the meeting record of 1:43.68 set in 2011 by Abubaker Kaki of Sudan. Aman, the fastest 800m runner in the world in 2013, finished second in 1:43.99 while Kaki finished third in 1:44.09.

UP IN FLAMES

In men’s 1500m race, Kiprop saw his bid for a record fourth consecutive victory go up in flames as world Indoor champion Ayanleh Souleiman won in 3:47.32. breaking IAAF Diamond League record and the US all-comers’ record.

Souleiman’s time, which makes him the 10th-fastest performer in history, broke the IAAF Diamond League record of 3:49.09 set by Kenya’s Haron Keitany at this meeting in 2011, and the meeting record of 3:48.28 run by Daniel Kipchirchir Komen of Kenya in 2007.

Kenya’s Silas Kiplagat finished second in a personal best of 3:47.88. Aman Wote finished third in an Ethiopian record of 3:48.60, while Kiprop faded all the way to seventh in 3:50.26.

Running assertively in third place for most of the race, the 24-year-old Obiri surged over the final curve and sprinted to victory in a world-leading 3:57.05 to beat 2011 world champion Jenny Simpson and reigning world champion Abeba Aregawi of Sweden.