(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.
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.
"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; weve 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 |
|
|
2 |
LALANG, Boaz Kiplagat |
|
|
3 |
KIPLAGAT, Abraham |
|
|
4 |
MANZANO, Leonel |
|
|
5 |
KIVUVA, Jackson Mumbwa |
|
|
6 |
KSZCZOT, Adam |
|
|
7 |
ALI, Belal Mansoor |
|
|
8 |
MUTUA, David Mutinda |
|
|
9 |
YEGO, Alfred Kirwa |
|
|
10 |
LUDOLPH, Sören |
|
|
|
TANGUI, Sammy |
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
2 |
KOECH, Cherono |
|
|
3 |
CUSMA PICCIONE, Elisa |
|
|
4 |
SIMPSON, Jemma |
|
|
5 |
WURTH-THOMAS, Christin |
|
|
6 |
PLIS, Renata |
|
|
7 |
SUM, Eunice |
|
|
8 |
CUMMINS, Diane |
|
|
9 |
KOHLMANN, Fabienne |
|
|
10 |
MASNÃ, Lenka |
|
|
11 |
BECKWITH, Molly |
|
|
|
TVERDOSTUP, Tamara |
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
2 |
CHEPKOK, Vincent Kiprop |
|
|
3 |
SOI, Edwin Cheruiyot |
|
|
4 |
KIPKOECH, John |
|
|
5 |
LONGOSIWA, Thomas Pkemei |
|
|
6 |
CHESHARI, Jacob Korir |
|
|
7 |
LAGAT, Bernard |
|
|
8 |
BETT, David Kiprotich |
|
|
9 |
SIMOTWO, Suleiman Kipses |
|
|
10 |
BIWOTT, Yusuf Kibet |
|
|
11 |
SONGOK, Isaac Kiprono |
|
|
12 |
PFLIEGER, Philipp |
|
|
13 |
MEUCCI, Daniele |
|
|
|
BIRGEN, Bethwell |
|
|
|
GABIUS, Arne |
|
|
|
HEATH, Garrett |
|
|
|
SHAHEEN, Saif Saaeed |
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
2 |
GEBREMEDHIN, Mekonnen |
|
|
3 |
CHOGE, Augustine Kiprono |
|
|
4 |
CASADO, Arturo |
|
|
5 |
RONO, Geoffrey Kipkoech |
|
|
6 |
KOMBICH, Ismael Kipngetich |
|
|
7 |
LANCASHIRE, Thomas |
|
|
8 |
KAMEL, Yusuf Saad |
|
|
9 |
SCHLANGEN, Carsten |
|
|
10 |
FERNÃNDEZ, Ãlvaro |
|
|
11 |
CHEBOI, Collins |
|
|
12 |
KOWAL, Yoann |
|
|
13 |
VAN DER WESTHUIZEN, Peter |
|
|
|
CONRAD, Martin |
|
|
|
DABA, Demma |
|
|
|
KEMBOI, Nicholas Kiptanui |
|
|
|
WALDMANN, Moritz |
|
|