Kenyan sets world record in 800, Symmonds finishes fifth
LONDON (AP) — Nick Symmonds never thought he'd crack 1 minute, 43 seconds in the 800 meters.
He did, and it wasn't good enough against the best ever.
The Springfield, Ore., resident and Willamette University graduate finished fifth in Thursday night's final, which David Lekuta Rudisha of Kenya won with a world-record time of 1:40.91.
"On one point, I'm crushed and devastated, but on the other, to do something I never thought I'd be humanly capable of, I've got really mixed emotions. I really need a pint right now."
Symmonds ran a career best of 1:42.9.
"To run a personal best at 28 years old, I feel invincible right now even though I don't have a medal around my neck," he said.
Rudisha won his first Olympic gold medal with the kind of world-record performance that has made him almost unbeatable the last three years.
The 23-year-old Kenyan won Thursday's final in 1 minute, 40.91 seconds, shaving one-tenth of a second off the mark he set in 2010, and setting the first world record on the track at the London Olympics.
After crossing the line, he flung up both arms to celebrate, then draped himself in a national flag and posed for photographs near the timing clock with "NEW WR" on it.
Nigel Amos of Botswana, the world junior champion, took silver in a national record 1:41.73 and Timothy Kitum of Kenya got the bronze in 1:42.53.
American Duane Solomon fourth, just ahead of 18-year-old Mohamed Aman of Ethiopia, the world indoor champion who handed Rudisha his only loss since 2009 last September.
Sebastian Coe, a middle-distance running great and head of the London organizing committee, described Rudisha's win as one of the greatest in the Olympics.
"That was simply an unbelievable performance," Coe said. "David Rudisha showed supreme physical and mental confidence to run like that in an Olympic final.
"Instead of just doing enough to win the race, he wanted to do something extraordinary and go for the world record as well. Rudisha's run will go down in history as one of the greatest Olympic victories."
Kitum, who finished more than 1 1/2 seconds behind his fellow Kenyan, said Rudisha had warned other runners to be prepared for something special.
"Yes, he's the greatest runner," Kitum said. "He told me he's going to run a world record today. He's the best."
Nick Symmonds represented himself and the country very well indeed. If he continues his track career I look for him to move up to the 1500.Â
Congratulations to Nick. Â We are very proud of you! Â One of the beautiful things about running is that we win each time we set a new PR, or run to the best of our ability, or break through previous limits.Â
My mother says the Kenyans are such good runners because they have no cars in their country and have to run everywhere.
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your mother is such a liar.
That guy should run the marathon because at that pace he will break the hour and a half barrier.
Just when I thought they couldn't get any faster.
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Soon runners will reach the limit of human abilities and breaking records will be less and less common.
@RalphCramden People said that about the 4 minute mile RalphCramden. Humans will continue to break records as training, diet, and development continue to evolve.Â
 @I812 I can appreciate that but I think there is a limit to what the human is capable of. We are not really evolving and are pretty much the same as we were centuries ago. In fact there is good evidence that we have been the way were are now for 10's of thousands of years.
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Technology may play a part in that. When the fiberglass pole was invented it allowed pole vaulters to go significantly higher but with a wood pole there is little advancement.
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Every now and then a super athlete comes along like Lance Armstrong that has a very high aerobic/anaerobic threshold and the lung capacity to remove CO2 at higher levels than other people but that is the exception.
 @I812 I think that the reason for increased performance is by analyzing the athletes and how they perform. They did that for the broad jump with frame by frame videos and found ways to get a few extra feet. Then they found ways to get a few extra inches. Now they are down to millimeters.Â
@RalphCramden Sure there are limits to what a human being is capable of but we won't see those in any of the next 5 to 10 generations. Look at what has happened to athletic performance records over the last 50 or 100 years. Continuous improvement.Â
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Here's another thought Ralph: We only see an infintesimal percentage of the world's population engaged in organized athletic contests. The odds favor human beings out there who could surpass the performances of any known athlete currently engaged in organized sports.