Rudisha out in the 800, What next?
Rudisha out in the 800, What next?
David Rudisha’s Hayward Field debut will have to wait another year as the 800-meter world record holder has decided to withdraw from the Prefontaine Classic due to a bone bruise from a workout on Thursday.
The race was originally slated to feature the eight finalists from the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Olympic silver medalist Nijel Amos scratched on Wednesday as he has not been cleared to race by doctors until June 18.
So is Timothy Kitum the favorite by default?
The 18-year-old has already run two races in May going 1:46.54 in Doha and 1:46.93 in New York. In 2012, he opened with a 1:48.29 at the Colorful Daegu Championships Meeting and three days later rebounded with a 1:46.20 in Shanghai. By August, he was well rested and dropped the 10th fastest time ever in 1:42.53.
Mohammed Aman, the last man to beat Rudisha, ran 1:42.53 after the Olympic in Zurich and already has a season best of 1:44.21 from Doha. With less than 100-meters to go, Aman still pushed for an upset.
Kenyan Job Kinyor was not too far behind them as well, so keep your eyes peeled on him.
Last weekend, Rudisha asked pacer Matt Scherer to take the the field through a more conservative pace due to the gusty weather conditions at Icahn Stadium. They crossed the 400-meter mark at 50.64 seconds. Even without Rudisha, the pace will be fast as clear skies are in the forecast for Eugene on Saturday.
Fast enough for IAAF “A” standard to be hit by Americans Nick Symmonds and Duane Solomon? Very likely.
Solomon placed fourth at the Olympics behind Kitum running 1:42.82 and could be in contention for a top three finish. In his first two meets in 2012, he ran 1:50.76 at the Aviva International Match and 1:45.86 at the Oxy High Performance meet. He opened his season faster in 2013 with a 1:46.03 at Mt. SAC Relays, so there’s that indication of his fitness.
Prediction: 1. Aman 2. Kitum 3. Kinyor 4. Solomon