Johannesburg – Andre Olivier expressed mixed feelings about his performance after taking second place in the men’s 800m race at the Diamond League meeting in Glasgow on Saturday.
Olivier was relatively satisfied with his effort as he secured his best finish at a Diamond League event, despite battling fatigue while in peak training for the Commonwealth Games later in July.
“I did not feel too good in the race,” Olivier said on Sunday.
“I had a hard week of training and felt a bit heavy.”
Kenyan world record holder David Rudisha, the favourite for gold at the Games after returning from a lengthy injury hiatus, broke clear when the pace setter dropped out with 300m to go and coasted to a convincing victory in 1:43.34.
Olivier was the best of the rest, winning a sprint finish for second position in 1:45.65, less than two weeks before the start of the Commonwealth showpiece.
While the South African was content with a podium place in his penultimate race before the Games, he admitted he was disappointed to trail well behind Rudisha.
“I’m happy with second place but if a guy beats you by two seconds it’s not so good.”
“But I’m excited for (the World Challenge meeting in) Madrid on Saturday and then it’s the Commonwealth Games.”
Olivier’s countryman, Johan Cronje, grabbed fourth place in a tactical men’s 1 500m contest in Glasgow in 3:34.97.
Running a well-judged race, Cronje worked hard down the home straight, and while he put up a strong fight, the SA record holder crossed the line more than two seconds behind runaway Kenyan Silas Kiplagat who won in 3:32.84. – Sapa