Nairobi – Kenya’s Olympic and world 800m record-holder David Rudisha will be seeking a confidence boost in his comeback race on Saturday after a year out with injury.
Rudisha, who is also the reigning Olympic and 2011 world champion, is scheduled to compete in the Prefontaine Classic 800m race in Eugene, Oregon.
Competitors include the 2013 world champion Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia, Olympic silver medallist Nijel Amos of Botswana and America's Duane Solomon, who has run this year’s world best of 1:43.27.
“It is like being thrown into the deep end,” Rudisha’s coach, Colm O’Connell, told AFP.
“People will be anxious and are waiting to see how Rudisha will fare having been out for too long. There’s always a challenge to come back from injury straight into a big race.”
“But David is an experienced athlete not to put pressure on himself. He’s seeking a confidence boost to his running. Luckily we have not seen an outstanding performance in the men’s 800m this season, so the athletes will be almost at the same level of competition in Oregon,” O'Connell said.
Like Rudisha, Botswana's Amos, who took the silver medal behind the Kenyan at the 2012 London Olympics, also missed much of 2013
due to a nagging quad injury and will look to launch his season at the Prefontaine Classic. – Sapa-AFP