David Rudisha of Kenya speaks about winning the men's 800 metres Olympic title in a stunning world record of 1min 40.91sec. 00:01:17 PRWINT CodeNameMMV443177_TEN FileNameMMV443177_TEN-David Rudisha (man) world record-breaking Olympic 800mSHOTLIST: LONDON, AUGUST 10, 2012. SOURCE: AFPTV -VAR cutaways SOUNDBITE 1 David Rudisha (man) world record-breaking Olympic 800m (English, 18 secs): "I can't even describe, it was just like I was dreaming all night. I couldn't believe you know what I did yesterday and I was just waking up at night you know thinking is it reality?" -VAR cutaways SOUNDBITE 2 David Rudisha (man) world record-breaking Olympic 800m (English, 28 secs): "Coming to this championship I was very confident, and I prepared myself well. And there was no doubt, you can even see when we've started that race, I was confident going on the front. I knew I can control the race, I knew I was in 01:40 shape -- it was just a matter of time to do it maybe this year, but to do it yesterday it was something fantastic. So, I knew nobody was going to challenge me. " -VAR cutaways SOUNDBITE 6 David Rudisha (man) world record-breaking Olympic 800m (English, 12 secs): "But Usain, he's running a different event from mine so I can say he's a 100, 200 legend. I might not be wrong to say I might be an 800m legend." -VAR cutaways /// -------------------------------------------------------- AFP TEXT STORY: Oly-2012-Athletics-800M-Rudisha Olympics: Rudisha inspired by mentor father by Pirate Irwin =(PICTURE)= LONDON, Aug 9, 2012 (AFP) - With his world record-breaking Olympic 800m triumph on Thursday, David Rudisha achieved a long-held goal of going one better than the silver medal his father, Daniel, won at the 1968 Games. The 23-year-old Kenyan -- whose father won silver in the 4x400m relay in the 1968 Games - did it in style as he shattered his own world record in what was the fastest ever 800m race. Rudisha, who was the first Olympic champion since Cuban Alberto Juantorena in 1976 to break the world record at 800m, said he had been thinking of his father prior to the race. "In fact even before I started my race I thought of how my father was watching me back at home on television because of course he couldn't come here," he said. "He was always encouraging me and I wouldn't be here but for him. "He is a big inspiration to me. I was always dreaming of doing better than him and go a step further than him. "I remember him saying that in the 1960s he wanted to break the 400m world record but he couldn't do it. "But for his son to do it is a great honour." Rudisha, who didn't get interested in athletics until 10 years ago, said that missing the Olympic Games in Beijing because of injury had perhaps been a boon. "Sometimes when you get disappointed it's what makes you even stronger because I was young then and it wasn't my last chances," he said. "That misfortune didn't discourage me and my coach actually advised me to give the Games a miss because he said I risked doing more damage to myself by going there and it would be better for me to stay at school and get through my studies. "Maybe if I had won the Olympic title there things would not have gone so well for me afterwards. "I think that perhaps being so young I would not have been able to handle the pressure of being the Olympic champion and that I would not have become the athlete I am today." Rudisha, whose performance in the final was hailed by former 800m world record-holder Sebastian Coe -- now head of the London Games organizing committee -- as one of the greatest Olympic performances of all time, said that another failure had really proved the spur to making such enormous progress. "I suffered the blow of missing out on the 2009 world championship final and I said to my coach I want to run a really fast time by the end of the year so I can prove that I am a contender for the future great prizes," he said. "By the end of the year I had set a new African record breaking the one that had stood for 25 years and from then on there has been a landmark every year with the pinnacle coming today. "However, I don't believe that this is the limit for the record as far as I am concerned. I believe if I arrive at a meeting feeling fresh then anything is possible." pi/bb
