David Rudisha
David Lekuta Rudisha, MBS (born 17 December 1988) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. He is a two-time back-to-back Olympic champion from the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics, a two-time World champion from the 2011 and 2015 World Championships in Athletics, and a world record holder at the event with a time of 1:40.91, set at the 2012 London Games on 9 August 2012. Rudisha is the first and only person to ever run 800 metres under 1:41, and he holds the three fastest, six of the eight fastest, and half of the twenty fastest times ever run in this event.
Rudisha at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Birth name | David Lekuta Rudisha | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 17 December 1988 Kilgoris, Narok County, Kenya | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 76 kg (168 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | Kenya | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | 800 metres | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Rudisha established his running career at the St. Francis Kimuron High School in Elgeyo-Marakwet County. He won 800 m titles at the 2006 World Junior Championships as well as the 2008 and 2010 African Championships, and earned the 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medal. He also holds the world's best time in the 500 metres and the African best for the 600 metres. He is a two-time Diamond League 800 m winner. Rudisha won the IAAF World Athlete of the Year award in 2010 and three consecutive Track & Field News Athlete of the Year awards.
In May 2022, Rudisha announced he would be running for election in his native Kenya as an independent candidate in the Kilgoris Constituency.
In March 2024, Rudisha served as the World Athletics ambassador for the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.