Kenya's David Lekuta Rudisha celebrates after winning the men's 800m competition during the ISTAF (Internationales Stadionfest) IAAF World Challenge on August 22, 2010 in Berlin.JOHANNES EISELE/AFP / Getty Images
David Rudisha of Kenya broke the men's 800-metre world record on Sunday by running one minute 41.09 seconds, only minutes after Caster Semenya successfully returned to the Berlin Olympic Stadium to win the women's race over the same distance.
Rudisha powered home to beat the previous record of 1:41.11 set by Wilson Kipketer, a Kenyan-born runner from Denmark in Cologne, Germany on Aug. 24, 1997.
"I met him last year and he told me, 'I can see you have a future in the 800, you can beat the world record,"' Rudisha said of Kipketer. "He encouraged me to go for it."
Rudisha broke the record at the same stadium where he was just a semifinalist in the 800 at last year's world championships.
"I was very disappointed last year, but the weather was so cold then," said Rudisha, a 21-year-old former world junior champion.
"I knew that I would be fast today and that I am in good shape. I was just hoping the weather would be good. It was a bit windy but otherwise it was perfect," he said.
Rudisha was already the second fastest two-lap runner in history after clocking 1:41.51 in Belgium in July.
Once the pace maker dropped out after the first lap, Rudisha ran alone against the clock. Sammy Tangui of Kenya ran the first lap in 48.65 to put Rudisha on course.
"I saw I was inside world record pace in the final straight and I just went for it. This was really the first time I tried to break the record," Rudisha said.
"This was my first aim, to break the record. Now my next steps are to win world and Olympic titles," Rudisha said. "But I can still improve my world record."
In the women's 100-metre hurdles, Canadians Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Perdita Felicien combined for a 1-2 finish.
Lopes-Schliep, of Whitby, Ontario, was first in 12.57 while her rival from Pickering, Ontario, was just behind at 12.71. Germany's Carolin Nytra was third.
"It's been a very good second half of the season," said Lopes-Schliep. "Today's performance I had a great start, a strong finish, floated over a few in the middle of the race. Just hoping for a strong finish and a personal best."
The 27-year-old Lopes-Schliep heads into next week's IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium tied with American Lolo Jones for the lead in her event.
She'll win a four-carat diamond worth US$80,000 if she finishes atop the standings.
The Olympic Stadium was the site of Semenya's triumph at the world championships last year, but she subsequently missed 11 months of competition while undergoing gender tests.
"I still feel the same but it was not easy for a 19-year-old girl to go through what I've been through," Semenya said after cruising home in 1:59.90.
"I ran a good time, I felt at home," said Semenya, who was greeted warmly by a crowd of nearly 50,000 at the Olympic stadium.
The South African teenager surged ahead in the last 50 metres to cross the line in under two minutes in her third race since she was cleared to run again in July. She competed in two minor races in Finland before getting invited to run in Berlin. Semenya hopes to make the South Africa team for the Commonwealth Games in October.
She was 4.5 seconds slower than her winning time of 1:55.45 in Berlin last year.