26 Aug 2015

BOPA journalist, Thomas Nkhoma, retraces the four-year Amos/Rudisha rivalry from Kenya to London and China and argues that with Rio 2016 beckoning and barring the unlikely, the real battle is yet to ensue.

August 23, 2015 was unlike August 9, 2012. They are two different sides to the coin. On the first date, Batswana watched with an air of shock as Nijel Amos simply crashed out of the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.

He was easily beaten to the finish line by his all-time nemesis David Rudisha of Kenya and unexpectedly squeezed out by an unknown Musaeb Abdulrah of Qatar.

Amos clocked a dismal 1:47, 96. This must have been his worst performance since the 2012 London Olympics. 

Like Amos, Batswana were equally devastated when he failed to make the final. 

In social media and other platforms, Batswana expressed their devastation.

Gaborone’s skies were overcast. I mean literally, as a cold breeze swept across the capital city while the searing weekend heat retreated into the horizon. The mood was certainly sombre. It was as if the nation’s hero had died.

However, as I dug into the archives, I came across an article penned by colleague, Thelma Khunwane, in the 2012 September issue of Kutlwano magazine after he surprised the world winning the country’s first Olympic medal when he settled for silver with a time of 1:41:73.

The mood then was different. Amos had caused a scare. He was talk of the town. 

The world had suddenly taken notice of him while in Kenya a war of words ensued as bloggers took to the Internet, writing him off as a mere chancer perhaps in a bid to discourage him.

“Who the hell is Nijel Amos…?” question one blogger on LetsRun.com while Zlatan responded, “This guy runs for Botswana. He ran 1:43:1 last month. These kids are running fast these days. Interesting to see what this Amos guy does. Anyone know if he is going to London?”

One blogger nearly set social media ablaze when he dismissed Amos as an age cheat in the junior championships, prompting a certain Motswana to retort “Nijel is a proper 18-year old. In Botswana we don’t condone age cheating”. 

Yes indeed, Amos was by then 18 while Rudisha was 22.

The die had been cast. The London duel was between Amos and Rudisha and indeed it was but the latter would race to the podium first clocking 1:40: 90 to Amos’ 1:41:73. It was a record breaking race in Olympic history, the fastest in recorded human history.

So it would be that Kenyan bloggers triggered the rivalry between the two but the real battle ensued after the London Olympics and would endure through the many competitions that the two met, only punctuated by absence of either one of them due to injury or some other commitment.

Currently, Amos is poised for the 800m Diamond League title with 12 points ahead of Rudisha’s six.

“The tall, powerful Kenyan had taken his familiar place at the front…and he entered the straight having distanced himself from all his opposition – save for the determined little figure of the man who followed him home to take silver at the London 2012 Olympics, Nijel Amos,” reads a news article titled “Amos gets one up on Rudisha again in Lausanne – IAAF Diamond League” on the IAAF website.

Amos would beat Rudisha in what the article described as a “giveaway sign” when the latter, feeling the former’s heaving breathe from close behind, would anxiously glance back allowing his rival to whizz past him for the finish line. So it would be that when Beijing, China beckoned, Amos knew the man to give him competition was Rudisha, discounting the rest as mere challengers who would be in the race to give the two impetus.  After missing 2013 meet which he described as his greatest disappointment before China, Amos was eager to claim the 2015 title.Even pundits waited with much anticipation in that one commentator writing in The Independent online said “should Rudisha improve his final sprint then the rivalry with Amos has the prospect of being as captivating as Usain Bolt against Justin Gatlin inside the Bird’s Nest”.

However, unlike August 9, 2012, a different atmosphere prevailed on August 23, 2015.  Amos crashed out of the title chase of the IAAF World Championships, leaving  Rudisha to claim the 800m World Champion title. All the commentator could say was “what a shock!”

Notwithstanding, this is just the beginning for the two rivals. The real battle awaits them in Brazil next year – the Rio Olympics. The much anticipated duel was set immediately after the 2012 London Olympics. This time, the world would be eager to see what the 22-year old will do to the 27-year old.

My best rival: “David Rudisha because he motivates me in every way, not only from a competitive point of view but the way he conducts himself. He is a great guy. You have to push hard to beat him. When I beat him for the first time at the Prefontaine Classic it was like, wow!” says Amos in the June 8, 2015 series on the IAAF website.

So with 344 days (27 Aug) days remaining before Rio 2016, the question that is on many especially Batswana’s lips is whether Amos would claim Rio 2016 as his more so that the event takes place from August 5 to 21. Twice the numeric nine (9) has been Amos’ lucky number, smashing the 800m national record set by Glody Dube to qualify for the London Olympics at the German Olympic Qualification Meet in Mannheim, German on June 9, thereby going to win silver at the 2012 London Olympics on August 9. From his performance so far, Amos is down but certainly not out. Ends