Lausanne: It seems many moons ago that David Rudisha streaked to a world record-breaking victory in the 800m at the London Olympics.
The Kenyan set the end of a fantastic track and field spectacle at the 2012 Games alight when he clocked a breath-taking 1min 40.91sec around two laps of the track.
But then injury hit, with 26-year-old Rudisha missing out on the world championships in Moscow in 2013.
There was another injury scare earlier this season when Rudisha quickly pulled up in a 600m race clutching his thigh.
He has rebounded from that incident, however, with victory in the New York Diamond League and insisted Wednesday that his focus was on next month’s world champs in Beijing.
“Injury is gone and all is good to reach about 1:43,” he said ahead of an outing at the Diamond League at Lausanne, a venue where he won his first race still as a junior athlete and still at school.
“My main aim for 2015 is the world championships in Beijing and see what I can do there.
“Since 2012, with all my disappointment and injuries, it has been difficult to get preparation and training. I was not finishing training well, sometimes at about 70 per cent. And this also reflects on my competitions.
“So, it is a good way to test different tactics. But now I am in good shape and I am strong, so I will start strong and finish strong.”
Rudisha added: “With all these difficulties, I had lots of disappointments, but I always fight back and come back. As we say, What does not kill you makes you stronger.”
The lean, softly-spoken Kenyan did not rule out an attempt on the Stade de la Pontaise record of 1:42.61 held by Kenyan-born Dane Wilson Kipketer, with weather forecast to be hot and sunny.
“The weather needs to be good, I believe we are in good shape for 1:42 something. But we need good weather. Even 1:42.50 is not easy to achieve. But why not?!”
Rudisha said that the increased rivalry in the 800m was only for the good.
“I believe my friends, like (Ethiopian) Mohammad Aman, we will be able to push each other,” he said.
“When the competition is up there, everybody is more competitive. Since 2010, we have been seeing good races, I have been able to push my colleagues. Sometimes they are in good shape, but not always confident. Finally, it results a lot in your training.”
Rudisha put his injuries down more to bad luck than “bad” training.
“It is difficult to know what exactly causes the problems and the injuries,” he admitted.
“We have good physiotherapist and medical support in Kenya, not as many as in Europe. But we work very closely with them. I think my body is just a bit sensitive!”
