Bring back celebrated Rudisha, say Aman and Amos in Qatar

DOHA

In the absence of David Rudisha, the injured 800 metres Olympic champion and world record holder, pretenders to the throne are struggling to keep up with the lofty standards set in the two-lap race by the Kenyan superstar.

With Rudisha’s long-term injury ruling him out of last year’s World Championships in Moscow, Mohammed Aman panned an unlikely gold medal in the Russian capital, but the Ethiopian concedes that the race has lost its glamour without the Kenyan hero.

And Botswana’s Nijel Amos, who trailed Rudisha to a silver medal in the record-breaking race at the 2012 London Olympics, concurs with Aman that life on the track has never been the same without the front-running Kenyan.

CONTROLLING RACE

“I’ve been saying to Aman ‘now that Rudisha is not there, you should control the race’ but Aman keeps saying to me ‘no, you take the responsibility’,” Amos joked on Thursday ahead of Friday’s season-opening IAAF Doha Diamond League meeting.

Both athletes wished Rudisha - who was expected here this weekend but pulled out with a strained calf muscle – a speedy recovery to bring the excitement back to the two-lap race.

“His injury was bad and I haven’t seen him for a while, but I wish him a quick recovery and hope he comes back soon,” said Aman who trains invariably between the National Stadium in Addis Ababa and Ethiopian distance running legend Kenenisa Bekele’s private track in Entoto, up the hill from Addis.

Amos, who will represent Namibia in the 4x400m relay at this month’s inaugural IAAF World Relays Championship in Bahamas and in the Commonwealth Games, said Rudisha is a legend. “It is not easy to come back from injury and back into the shape that he was before, but Rudisha is carrying the legacy of the 800 metres and I’d really like to see him back soon,” the Namibian star said.

Rudisha, who shattered his own world record at the London Olympics final with a brilliant one minute, 40.91 seconds run, was due to make his return here tomorrow but he pulled out with a strained calf muscle and postponed his return to the May 31. Aman, who defended his World Indoor 800m title in Poland two months ago is the only runner to have defeated Rudisha at his best.