David Rudisha's unbeatable run

David Rudisha was tentatively named as one of the favourites for a medal at the World Championships. In the heats he used his impressively long strides to qualify easily. But to his misfortune the weather turned cold. In the unusually chilly conditions during the semis cramps bothered his fearsome final dash and he missed out on the World Championship final.

Over the next few weeks though he decisively showed his tremendous talent. Impressive wins in Zürich and Brussels were followed by a blistering run in Rieti, where he laid down the fastest race of the year. His stunning mark of 1:42.01 was the fastest mark since 1997, when Kipketer ruled the distance. To prove that the tank was far from empty he went on to dominate the World Athletics Final race as well.

The perfect finish. David Rudisha is too fast for all his rivals at the World Athletics Final. After wins in Zürich, Brussels and Rieti this was his fourth consecutive victory in major races.

   Zürich result: 
 1 David Rudisha           KEN  1:43.52
 2 Alfred Kirwa Yego       KEN  1:43.66
 3 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi       RSA  1:44.03
 4 Bram Som                NED  1:44.10
 5 Gary Reed               CAN  1:44.26
 6 Yuriy Borzakovskiy      RUS  1:44.40
 7 Nick Symmonds           USA  1:44.86
 8 Marcin Lewandowski      POL  1:44.89

   Brussels result: 
 1 David Rudisha           KEN  1:45.80
 2 Alfred Kirwa Yego       KEN  1:46.36
 3 Gary Reed               CAN  1:46.82
 4 Yuriy Borzakovskiy      RUS  1:46.88

   Rieti result:
 1 David Rudisha           KEN  1:42.01
 2 Alfred Kirwa Yego       KEN  1:42.67
 3 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi       RSA  1:42.86
 4 Bram Som                NED  1:43.59
 5 Yusuf Saad Kamel        BRN  1:44.83

   World Athletics Final result:
 1 David Rudisha           KEN  1:44.85
 2 Gary Reed               CAN  1:45.23
 3 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi       RSA  1:45.53
 4 Bram Som                NED  1:45.86

 Mulaudzi is the surprise World Champion

Several years ago Mbulaeni Mulaudzi looked every bit a future champion. But despite being world leader in 2006 and 2007 the major titles didn't arrive. With many younger athletes aspiring Mulaudzi appeared to have missed his chances.

But in Berlin he proved how good a runner he still is. Sure, he was a bit lucky to reach the final as the second fastest loser. And yes, most other finalists had run faster this season already than he had done so far. But Mulaudzi took the lead and set the pace for the others to follow. Nobody else felt like taking the lead, nobody else wanted to set the pace himself and in the end nobody else was able to get past. And therefore the South African finally collected that well deserved major title.

    Result:
 1. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi     RSA 1:45.29
 2. Alfred Kirwa Yego     KEN 1:45.35
 3. Yusuf Saad Kamel      BRN 1:45.35
 4. Yuriy Borzakovskiy    RUS 1:45.57
 5. Amine Laalou          MAR 1:45.66
 6. Nick Symmonds         USA 1:45.71
 7. Bram Som              NED 1:45.86
 8. Marcin Lewandowski    POL 1:46.17
 9. Jackson Kivuna        KEN 1:46.39
10. Yeimer López          CUB 1:47.80

Champion at last. Mulaudzi bellows in satisfaction after becoming World Champion. After several disappointments in previous years he has just won the biggest prize of his career.

 Abubaker Kaki is the king of the early season

Abubaker Kaki was easily the star of the 800m during the first half of the season. Only four races went below 1"44 and Kaki won three of them, including the two fastest ones. In May he won in Doha in 1:43.09, which would remain the World leading time until September. Early in June he proved that it had not been a fluke as he approached that time to 0.01 when he scored another fine win at the FBK games in Hengelo. Late in July he recorded an impressive win when he beat a strong field in Monaco in 1:43.50.

After those strong races Kaki was generally seen as one of the main favourites for the World Championships, but an unlucky fall ruined his tournament and the injury he sustained unfortunately meant he was out for the rest of the season as well.

   Doha result: 
 1 Abubaker Kaki           SUD  1:43.09
 2 Asbel Kiprop            KEN  1:43.17
 3 Mohammed Al-Salhi       KSA  1:43.66
 4 David Rudisha           KEN  1:44.78
 5 Dmitrijs Milkevics      LAT  1:45.21

   Hengelo result:
 1 Abubaker Kaki           SUD  1:43.10
 2 Amine Laalou            MAR  1:43.36
 3 David Rudisha           KEN  1:43.53
 4 Bram Som                NED  1:44.80
 5 Marcin Lewandowski      POL  1:45.03

   Monaco result:
 1 Abubaker Kaki           SUD  1:43.50
 2 Yuriy Borzakovskiy      RUS  1:43.58
 3 Nick Symmonds           USA  1:43.83
 4 Marcin Lewandowski      POL  1:43.84
 5 Bram Som                NED  1:44.12
 6 Gary Reed               CAN  1:44.24

New World lead! Abubaker Kaki (124) speeds away from his rivals to win the Doha race. Behind the young Sudanese Asbel Kiprop (119) and Mohammed Al-Salhi (122) will both run new PB's.

 Borzakovskiy is European Indoor Champion

As there was only one real favorite at the 800m Borzakovskiy was almost obliged to win. And he duly did, taking an early lead and winning convincingly from the front, a full nine years after he had won this title for the first time at the tender age of 18.

Remarkably, only one man on the rostrum felt real joy, as Luis Alberto Marco, winner of the silver, happily stated 'It is the most important medal in my career.' Yuriy accepted his victory rather calmly, commenting 'It was very easy for me to lead the run because I am ready to run much faster. This run was slow.' Mattias Claesson felt even less like celebrating: 'I didn't win the bronze, I lost the gold! I am very disappointed because tactically, it was a bad race.'

   Result:
 1 Yuriy Borzakovskiy      RUS 1:48.55  
 2 Luis Alberto Marco      ESP 1:49.14  
 3 Mattias Claesson        SWE 1:49.32  
 4 Adam Kszczot            POL 1:49.52  
 5 Manuel Olmedo           ESP 1:49.77  
 6 Marcin Lewandowski      POL 1:49.86 

Victory is sweet. Borzakovskiy is all smiles after becoming European Indoor Champion once again. He had won this title as long ago as 2000, when he was only 18 years old.