Agencies
Rio de Janeiro, August 16: David Rudisha sealed a historic Olympic 800m double as Shaunae Miller’s audacious dive lit up a wet Monday night here.
Kenya’s Rudisha was all class in a smooth 800m victory which made him the first man since New Zealand’s Peter Snell in 1964 to win the event at consecutive Olympics.
“It is great to win such a big competition, my second gold,” said a beaming Rudisha. “It’s so great. I am so excited. It is the greatest moment of my career.”
But Rudisha was soon upstaged by the Bahamas’ Miller, who threw herself head-first across the line in the 400m to snatch victory from flummoxed American favourite Allyson Felix.
Miller remained lying on the track for some time after her unconventional dive, which followed a similar lunge across the line by Brazil’s Joao Vitor de Oliveira to qualify from his 110m hurdles heats.
“I’ve never done it before. I have some cuts and bruises, a few burns. It really hurts,” Miller informed reporters. “When I was on the ground I didn’t know I’d won. I still don’t know how it happened. What was in my mind was I had to get a gold medal. The next thing I was on the ground. It’s an amazing feeling.”
Her last-ditch plunge meant disappointment for America’s Felix, who has Olympic gold medals over 200m and 4x100m but who switched to focus on the longer distance.
The desperate dives came on a treacherously wet night when runners clattered into hurdles and the discus slipped from hands before officials called for a 20-minute suspension.
As the rain eased, Kenyan middle-distance star Rudisha emerged to stamp his class on the 800m. The World Champion and world record-holder hit the front in the final 300m and had one more gear than his rivals as he swept to the line in 1:42.15 seconds.
Also on Monday, Kenyan-born Ruth Jebet won Bahrain’s first ever Olympic gold when she claimed the women’s 3000m steeplechase, and Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk broke her own world record en route to the women’s hammer title by throwing the instrument a whopping 82.29m.
Earlier Sunday, South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk ran the fastest single lap in history to win the Olympic 400 metres gold medal in 43.03 seconds and break Michael Johnson’s 17-year-old world record of 43.18 seconds.
“I believed I could get the world record,” Van Niekerk told reporters. “I’ve dreamed of this medal since forever. I am blessed.”
The South African flew across the line a good five metres ahead of 2012 champion Kirani James and held his hands to his head in disbelief before being embraced by the Grenadian, who took silver in 43.76s. “I’m happy to be part of a race that made history,” James said. “We have put this sport on a pedestal.” LaShawn Merritt of the United States claimed bronze in 43.85s.
