Rudisha Third At Kenyan Trials, Reportedly Splits With Brother Colm

Rudisha Third At Kenyan Trials, Reportedly Splits With Brother Colm

A report in the Irish Times says one of the most effective partnerships in track history may be coming to an end. Brother Colm O'Connell, an Irish priest wh

Jul 1, 2016 by Dennis Young
Rudisha Third At Kenyan Trials, Reportedly Splits With Brother Colm
A report in the Irish Times says one of the most effective partnerships in track history may be coming to an end.

Brother Colm O'Connell, an Irish priest who coached David Rudisha to his world record and Olympic gold medal, said, "I have not followed him (Rudisha) closely for a long time and I don't know whether he has been following our (coaching) program. He has done very, very little training with me this year.

"Although I know he is a very experienced athlete, I am not sure if he is mentally fit. It would be misleading to say I knew his mental or physical strength. He has not been in touch for a long time."

O'Connell has coached numerous world record-holders and Olympic and world champions, including the previous world record-holder in the 800m, Wilson Kipketer. At this week's Kenyan Olympic trials, though, Rudisha managed to take a selfie with Colm:



Rudisha punched his ticket to his second straight Olympics by finishing third in the 800m final Kenyan trials. According to an AP report, Kenyan national team selectors automatically picked the top two finishers and used a third wild card spot on Rudisha. Watch the full race here:



After running a world-leading 1:43.33 in the semifinal, Rudisha could only muster a 1:44.23 in the final. Alfred Kipketer won the race in 1:43.73, and Ferguson Rotich was second in 1:44.05.

Watch our interview with Brother O'Connell from 2013: