Amos handed major boost

  • Rudisha withdraws from World Champs
  • Amos is the clear favourite after an injury rules out Rudisha
  • Amos now has a chance to win his first world title

BONGANI MALUNGA

IAAF World Championships gold medal hopeful Nijel Amos’ chances of winning his first ever world championship title have been boosted after his perennial rival David Rudisha pulled out of the London held event just five days before the tournament.
The seemingly disappointed Kenyan athlete made the announcement on his Twitter page on Monday as he confirmed that he would not be taking part in the championships.
Rudisha and Amos are the poster boys of the 800m category and their expected duel was billed to be one of the main highlights of the championships, in the London 2012 Olympics they were the key athletes in “the fastest 800M race of all time.”
In 2014 they faced off again at the London based Olympic Stadium as Amos won in a competitive Diamond League meet, however fans have been robbed of a trilogy of their duel in London as Rudisha has been ruled out through injury.
Rudisha is the defending 800m world champion and 800m world record holder, he has succumed to a quad muscle strain that will prevent him from defending his title, this means that for the first time since 2015 a new 800m world champion will be crowned and Amos is amongst the heavy favourites to win the title given his rich vein of form in the past few months, Amos also recorded the fastest 800m record of the year last month.
The Marobela native has never won a world title and his chances have been boosted by his rival’s absence, however, he still has to go through an army of equally hungry rivals who are also salivating at the prospect of dethroning Rudisha as the world champion.
Amos will be wary of suffering the same fate as the 2015 Beijing championships whereby he failed to get past the semifinal heat, despite being hailed as a heavy favourite in the same year where he was the highest ranked 800m athlete on the back of successive Diamond League wins as well as an African 800m title.