Double Olympic 800m champion Rudisha to miss Tokyo Games

NAIROBI: Kenya’s David Rudisha, the two-time defending Olympic 800m champion, will not compete at this summer’s Tokyo Olympics due to recurring injuries, he told AFP on Saturday.

“I have not been able to return to the track for a long time, and as such I will not be ready to defend my title in Tokyo,” Rudisha, the 800m world record holder, said.

“It is life. This is sport, and as a sportsman you have to accept all the obstacles and challenges. Nothing is completely preventable, not even the injuries,” added the Kenyan, who won Olympic golds in 2012 and 2016, and world titles in 2011 and 2015.

Rudisha set the world record (1min 40.91sec) in the 2012 London Olympics final. Rudisha was involved in a serious car accident in 2019.