Written By:Kennedy Langat Kenyan-born Danish Wilson Kipketer has said he was not surprised to hear that David Rudisha had smashed his long-standing 800m world record.
Kipketer had held the record since August 1997 before Rudisha shaved two hundredths of a second from the mark by running 1 minute 41.09 seconds in Berlin, Germany on Sunday.
Kipketer believes it is a positive outcome for athletics, in which he is still involved as a coach and consultant.
Kipketer won Olympic silver and bronze, but never gold, as he was forced to sit out the 1996 Olympic Games while he waited to be granted Danish citizenship following a switch in nationality from his native country, Kenya.
Rudisha made history Sunday, setting a new world record in the 800-meters.
The 21-year-old runner clocked 1:41.09 in the event at an international meet in Berlin, Germany.
Rudisha, the African record holder and a world junior champion over 800 metres in 2006, had been threatening to break the record for some time, so promising had been his recent form on the track.
Elsewhere, Kenyan athletes will be among 120 runners who will participate in the annual Colombo Marathon to be held on 3rd of October this year starting at Torrington Square in Sri Lanka.
This annual event organised by the Lanka Sportreizen is to be held for the tenth time after missing out last year due to security reasons.
With the situation in the country coming back to normal, Sri Lanka hopes that this event will be a recreational destination in the future.
Already runners from Kenya, Germany and Japan have confirmed their participation.
However, expatriates working in Sri Lanka are also expected to compete in the full marathon that covers over 21 kilometres.
The men and women winners will receive a cash prize and an airline ticket from SriLankan Airlines.
ShareThis