Kenya's Rudisha wins 800m gold after 2009 flop

World record holder David Rudisha of Kenya won a gun-to-tape victory Tuesday to take the world 800m crown, banishing the heartbreak of his failure at the Berlin worlds in 2009. The 22-year-old took the lead from the start and never looked in trouble, winning in 1min 43.91sec, half a second quicker than Sudan's Abubaker Kaki (1:44.41), with Russia's Yuriy Borzakovskiy taking bronze (1:44.49). The physically imposing Rudisha timed 51.33sec at the bell in front of a bunched pack and opened up with 200m to go, putting on an extra spurt in the home stretch to see him safely home. "I controlled the race from the start, that was my plan," he said. "I did not want to make a mistake. And I also knew that I was in good shape. Nevertheless, I spared my energy until the last 150m. "At the moment we Kenyans are very happy to see our flag rising so often. "After Daegu I will go back to training and see if I can put my personal best down in the next races." The win spelled redemption for Rudisha, who was eliminated at the semi-final stage at the Berlin worlds two years ago, where inexperience and bad weather contributed to his poor showing. Following his 2009 disappointment Rudisha, who won the junior world title in 2006, began working on a strategy to break the long-standing world mark held by Kenyan-born Dane Wilson Kipketer with his pacemaker Sammy Tangui. Last summer, he broke the record at the Berlin Olympic stadium, the same arena where he had flopped a year earlier. Rudisha then bettered that mark of 1:41.09 a week later to 1:41.01 in Rieti, Italy and he went on to become the youngest runner in history to win the prestigious IAAF World Athlete of the Year award. Kaki's silver was the first ever world championships medal for Sudan. "I waited a long time to win this medal. It has equal value to my world indoor titles. This is the first medal for Sudan in the history of the world championships," said the two-time world indoor gold medallist. "David Rudisha is a friend. He's been dominating last year and this year. I am happy for these two medals are for Africa." Rudisha's success further underlines the staggering depth of talent in Kenyan middle and long-distance running. The East African powerhouse won all six medals on offer in the women's marathon and women's 10,000m on Saturday. Kenya, brimming with talent, promise many more medals before the end of the championships.