Kenya's Rudisha eyes Shanghai record ahead of Rio Olympics

Kenyan long distance athlete, David Rudisha, set his sights on breaking the Shanghai Diamond League record on Thursday as he steps up his campaign for the first back-to-back Olympic 800 metres title in 52 years.

The world record-holder said he was hoping for an improvement in his second outing of the season, after clocking one minute 44.78 seconds in Melbourne in March.

“Of course my ultimate aim is to be on top form in August for Rio Olympics. But tomorrow of course, I’m also looking forward, you know, to improve from my last time in Australia one minute 44.78 seconds. So I’m looking forward for something like 1: 43.5, and maybe perhaps seasonal best will be a good performance for me,” Rudisha told a news conference on Thursday in Shanghai.

Smilling after training, its just a few weeks b4 the kick off of Diamond_League i am starting in Shanghai 14/5/16 pic.twitter.com/wj5pOiONDz

— David Rudisha MBS (rudishadavid) April 24, 2016

Meanwhile, Justin Gatlin, the U.S. 100m and 200m athlete, who has twice served bans for doping, said he was recovering from his ankle injury sustained last November as he builds up for the Rio Olympic Games in August.

“Everyday has gotten stronger and better. I’ve been working on it around the clock. So especially while I’m in season, I have to make sure that it’s strengthened, but at the same time flexible to be able to run, you know, smoothly. I say if I had to roll my ankle, the best time was to roll it, is in the off-season or fall. So now getting into competition, I just have to worry about keeping my muscles loose and being able to perform well,” said Gatlin.

The Shanghai Diamond league is slated for Saturday May 14 with many athletes set to utilize the occasion to prepare for the 2016 Rio Olympics in August.