Rudisha Almost Catches Kipketer

Kenyan runs 1:41.51 to become second fastest 800-meter man of all-time.

David Rudisha of Kenya continued his sensational season on Saturday night at KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, winning the men’s 800 meters in an incredible 1:41.51 — a meeting record, half second personal best and the fastest time in the world — by far — this year. With his run, Rudisha becomes only the fourth man in history to break the 1:42 barrier.

“Today I wanted to do something that I had never done before,”said Rudisha, who finished more than 3 seconds up on the second-place finisher, Belal Mansoor of Quatar. “In the final stages it is always tough and I will need to improve on my last 50 meters if I want to break the World record. I do not feel disappointed at all about not breaking the World record.”

In other action at the KBC meeting, American Erin Donahue ran a personal best of 4:03.91 to finish second in the women’s 1,500 meters behind Ethiopian Abebe Arigawi (4:01.96). In the men’s 1,500, Oregon’s AJ Acosta followed up his 3:53 mile at last weekend’s Prefontaine Classic with a 3:36.48, third-place finish behind Kenyans Daniel Komen (3:32.16) and Ismael Kombich (3:33.31). U.S. 1,500-meter champion Lopez Lomong finished seventh in 3:38.39.

For more: IAAF.org