David Rudisha holds the Olympic men’s 800 metres record of 1:40.91, set at the 2012 London Games.
Rudisha won the final from the front, completing the two-lap race in a world-record time. His performance was especially notable because he ran without a pacemaker and led throughout, a demanding strategy in an event that combines sprint speed with endurance.
The Kenyan finished ahead of Nijel Amos and Timothy Kitum in London. His time also became the first 800-metre performance under 1 minute 41 seconds. Rudisha lowered his own previous world record, which he had set in 2010 in Berlin.
The Olympic record remains distinct from the world record only when the same mark is achieved at the Games; Rudisha’s London time is both the Olympic record and the world record. Sebastian Coe and Joaquim Cruz were earlier Olympic champions, but neither owns this mark.