I predicted David Rudisha would break the World Record in Rieti. Perhaps I could still be correct with the meet being one week away.
But my crystal ball is besides the point. David Rudisha broke the world record in Berlin with a 1:41.09, meat slicing a measly 0.02 seconds off the old standard of 1:41.11.
With unofficial splits of 49.1 and 52, we saw a differential of slightly under 3 seconds. 49 point seems to be the sweet spot based on all the sub 1:42 800 meter performances out there.
The video speaks for itself. With the rabbit dropping off shortly after 400 meters, I wonder how fast Rudisha could run if he had a rabbit or pacemaker all the way to 600 meters?
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Or better yet how fast would he have run if he had someone to push him the whole way?!
What impressed me the most wasn’t the time, but the fact that he had the race on at 450 meters and managed to run hard and strong without anyone pushing him. To me that speaks to tremendous concentration, focus and the ability to manager your speed without competition.
I’m a 400m guy and I can tell you that it’s HARD to run your best when you have an early lead, too easy to lose focus and/or think you’re going faster than you are.