Olympic champion and world record holder David Rudisha had been in imperious and unbeatable form for a number of years. That was until he was derailed by injury and missed most of the 2013 season. Even when he came back in 2014, he was not the imperious Rudisha that fans had become accustomed to.

He has now opened his 2015 season determined to climb back to the top of the 800m pile. He opened the season with 1:45.01 win at the Sydney Track Classic on Saturday night, winning comfortably over Alex Rowe.

His time however is slower than he normally runs at this time of the year. Rudisha explained this by saying his preparations were not at an advanced stage. Pacemaker Sammy Tangui covered the first 400m in 51.5 seconds which is two seconds slower than customary.

Fans will be hoping that Rudisha can reclaim his form from 2012. He will have yet another battle on his hands in 2015 against Botswana’s Nijel Amos and Ethiopia’s Mohamed Aman.