The Kenyan’s good development at the London Games paid off with a late, world-record surge that saw him win by almost a second in 1:40.91.
London was very special. It was my Olympic debut. In 2008, I was preparing for Beijing, but I was not so lucky. I injured myself in a race in Ostrava, so I had to focus on my high school exams that year and keep going to my classes.
In contrast, 2012 was very accessible to me and I started preparing from a long way. Following my performances from 2009-2011, it was all just the 2012 gathering. I had more experience then. I had already mastered my race, I knew exactly what to do and how to run my races.
I started 2012 very well. I went to Australia and did a few races and then came back to Kenya to prepare for the main season. I didn’t race that much that year because I didn’t want to get tired before the championship. But what I did was quality.
I ran 1:41 twice, once in Paris and once in New York. We were very confident that we were on the right track as we moved forward. We were just praying that we didn’t have any injury issues etc. and I was also praying for good weather and perfect conditions for the finals night. I’m glad our prayers were answered.
There is a lot of pressure when going to the Olympic Games. It is huge. You represent your country, you have so many fans around the world and so many people watch the Olympics. But I knew I was strong and I was in the best shape of my life.
I needed to just believe in myself and have that confidence. I already had a plan of what I was going to do in that final, and then I tried my best to stick to my plan.
David Beck (Getty)
Since I was a front runner, it was much easier for me to do the splits. My plan was to cover the first 400m in 49 seconds and do something like 1:14 for the 600m, which I was able to achieve because I can really control my pace in a calculated way.
Sometimes it’s not easy because during the race someone might cut you off or decide to go crazy in the first 200m or the first 400m. It might mess up your plan, but I was crossing my fingers that everything went well.
The coolest thing was that the other guys knew I was a leader, and they knew I usually didn’t take it easy. I wasn’t one to go ahead and slow down in the moment. They knew I would go fast.
I didn’t expect the world record either. I knew I was going into a fast race, but it’s hard to break a world record in the 800m without a speedometer. We had the help of a rabbit on most of the runs. What really gave me a lot of confidence was the 1:42.0 at the Kenyan trials. I said: “Wow, I was so close to 1:41 without a pacemaker!” Then I said: “Well, why can’t I try it at the Olympics itself?”
The final was fast. The first lap was 49 seconds and 1:14 for 600 meters as I had set. But when I looked at the big screen, just as I was approaching the 600m mark, I saw that the guys were behind me. I asked myself. “Aren’t I going that fast?” I felt like I was pushing, but before, in a 1:41 race, you’d usually miss a little bit.
After 600m I held back a bit to make sure I wasn’t really tired in the last 100m. When I saw the others right behind me, I felt in my mind. “Am I going to die?” I had given it my best. I was trying to push fast so let me keep something in the tank for at least the last 150m. I wasn’t really moving with full fluidity until I was straight out of the back.
At the end, when I saw the big time and results clock, that’s when I realized that these guys were also very fast… No wonder they were right behind me.
Andrew Osagie and David Rudisha (Getty)
That night was really great. It was a special achievement. I contacted my coach, brother Colm, who was watching from Kenya. He was really happy because breaking the world record in the Olympic final is a big achievement and I was really happy to win the gold medal. That was my final point to go to.
Preparing for the Olympics was very special because my father was a silver medalist in 1968 and sometimes when I was young I used to make fun of him. I have a chance to be better than you.”
We laughed because he knew that being second gave me a chance to win against him. It was a joke that happened, and it’s really nice sometimes when you see a young man say something like that to you, but then make sure he stays the course and works hard. He talks the talk and walks the walk.
When I returned, I told my father. “Now we are two Olympians.” I could see his feelings. I was also very proud and happy with my achievement.
As Mark Woods said
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