London Olympic Games 2012: 800m Men's race Preview

London Olympics 2012 800m finals should be a spectacular race to watch. The world 800m record holder and reigning world champion David Rudisha of Kenya has only one major medal missing in his bag, the Olympic gold medal.

His quest to do so at the London Olympics will face stiff competition from other athletes who would obviously like to spoil the party and grab the headline.

Kenya managed to grab a gold medal in 2008 Beijing Olympics in this race through Wilfred Kipkemboi Bungei. David Rudisha followed suite and won the gold medal in IAAF Athletics Championship in Daegu, South Korea.

Rudisha owns five of the 10 fastest times in history, including the world record of 1:41.01, which he set in Rieti, Italy in 2010 and also world-leading time this year of 1:41.74 that he set in New York.

In the Kenyan trials for London Olympics, Rudisha posted a high altitude time of 1:42.12. He is listed first in the current World 800m ranking.

Challengers in 800m race will include Kenyan Job Kinyor, Sudanese Abubakar Kaki, Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia, South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi.

Also, Ethiopian Mohammed Aman, Nick Symmonds of USA, Andrew Osagie of Great Britain, Bram Somalia of Netherlands, Mahfoud Brahimi of Algeria and Marcin Lewandowski, Adam Kszczot both of Poland.

Sudanese Abubakar Kaki has proven to be a force to reckon with in 800m and Rudisha cannot ignore him.

Kaki has been in Kenya for training and had pitched camp there for the better part of December 2011 before the World Indoor Championships.

He did put Rudisha on notice that all will not be smooth sailing at London Olympics when they meet for the showdown. He is listed second in the current World 800m ranking.

Nick Symmonds of USA should be another potential challenger to David Rudisha.

Symmonds won USA trials and together with Duayne Solomon and Khadevis Robinson will present a strong team in London.

Listed sixth, behind Marcin Lewandowski and Adam Kszczot of Poland in World 800m ranking, Symmonds has been a finalist in 800m far too many times and London Olympics 2012 should be the opportunity to make it big.

Ethiopian Mohammed Aman is another runner to watch out for in 800m finals, that is if he cruises all the way to the finals.

He has already beaten Rudisha once in Milan and he is the World Indoor Champion in 800m although his winning time is the slowest at men’s 800 in a World Indoor Championships. He is listed third in the current World 800m ranking.

Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia should also not be underrated, he won silver in Daegu 2011, silver in Osaka 2007 and he was the Olympic champion in Athens 2004. He would surely not mind to retire with a gold in London Olympics.

David Rudisha likes to front run and has established a masterly of front running style. It will be thrilling to watch how he will perfect this tactical front running style in London Olympics given the quality of 800m athletes that will line up in finals going for nothing short of an Olympic gold medal.

Given the world ranking, individual personal bests and previous records, Rudisha should be the favorite in 800m but watch out also for Sudanese Abubakar Kaki, Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia and Ethiopian Mohammed Aman.