Bungei salutes Rudisha

By Wilfred Bungei
What a day for Kenyans! That guy (David Rudisha) ran a perfect race and made us proud. As overall team captain in Beijing Olympic Games, I won a gold medal in 800 metres.

As overall team captain here, David Rudisha has won an Olympic gold medal and added a world record, an icing on the cake. 

What a giftfor me as his predecessor. It only happened in Montreal in 1976. It is happening 36 years later. He put a smile on our faces and gave us a sound sleep. I congratulate him for a job well done and executed.

The moment David crossed the half in 49, which is a world record pace, I knew a world record was possible. He just needed a little push. At 250 metres, (Abubaker) Kaki and Nigel Amos tried to catchhim. When he accelerated, I was at that point 100 per cent sure of aworld record.

To get a world record, correct splits are very important. David did splits of 25, 26 and 26, which are the best splits to run a world
record. He is very good in the first 200 metres, which added to his advantage.

He made us proud and made our day very special after some bad performances here in the initial stages. I thank him for that. In an Olympics, you hit the front early and maintain pace and control race.

That is what I did in Beijing four years ago. Pamela (Jelimo) is alsofollowing in that footsteps and I am praying for her to win the gold again.

I was sitting there on the front commentating for SuperSport. My palms were cold with sweat. I guess I was anxious. May be panicking. But that is how a high adrenaline race, like all Olympic finals are, are.

Sometimes, you feel like not watching. You want to close your eyes until the end of the race to be told who won. Then when it ends, you say waw! What a day, what a race.

The writer, Wilfred Bungei, won Olympic gold medal in Beijing Olympics in 2008.