Peerless David Rudisha seals historic Olympic 800m double

IN RIO DE JANEIRO

World 800m champion David Rudisha delivered peerless performance in defending his 800m Olympic title at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.

Rudisha, who is also the 800m world record-holder, clocked a season's best of 1 minute 42.15 seconds to become the first Kenyan Olympian to win back-to-back titles in any event in successive editions of the Games.

Before the final, Rudisha had emphatically stated the he was back in form and fully focused on winning the title, which he did by seeing off a spirited challenge from Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria in the final 200m.

About an hour and a half to the race, the heavens opened as heavy rains pounded Rio, forcing the program to be delayed by about 20 minutes.

But when the weather cleared, it turned out into a memorable night for Rudisha on a rain-swept track, as he became the first man since New Zealand's Peter Snell, in 1960 and 1964, to defend the 800m title.

"It was tough, but thankfully I was able to stay focused all through the race and eventually came out victorious. It's a fantastic feeling winning the Olympic title after a difficult season in 2013 when I struggled with injuries," Rudisha said.

"At some point in the race, I looked around the field and realised I was the only finalist from London. It's not been easy, considering the amount of training you have to go through just to get here," he added.

Just like in London four years ago, when he won his first Olympic title in with an astonishing world record time of 1:40.91, Rudisha came up against field of strong athletes all keen on wrestling the title from him.

(READ: King Rudisha defends Olympic 800m title)

But Rudisha had other ideas and spared no effort in stamping his authority in the closing stages of the race on a rain-swept track.

As has becoming his trademark, Rudisha employed the strategy of running from the front, although it was Alfred Kipketer who got off to sizzling start and stayed in the lead until the last 300m with Rudisha breathing down his neck.

But as Kipketer faded out, Rudisha hit the front with to go and his rapid acceleration left no room for any of the chasers to get close to him.

With Rudisha still in the lead, Makhloufi tried to make a move coming to the final bend but the world record-holder engaged a different gear that left the Algerian with a great deal of work to do on the home straight.

In the final 60m it was Rudisha all the way to the sound of a deafening roar from the crowd inside the Olympic Stadium.

"Running 1:42, is 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," Rudisha said.

Makhloufi took silver in 1:42.61 while Clayton Murphy of the United States clocked 1:42.93 to win the bronze medal.

Rotich, who has endured a troubled competition over off the field controversy in the Kenyan camp, finished fifth in 1:43.55 while Kipketer settled for a disappointing seventh in 1:46.02.