Kenya's 800m World record holder and World champion, David Lekuta Rudisha, has become the latest global superstar of the sport to commit himself to the 2012 Samsung Diamond League.
Rudisha disclosed this whilst speaking to journalists via an IAAF international media conference call marking the one month countdown to the opening meeting on Friday May 11th in Doha, Qatar, yesterday.
Calling from his domestic training base at the famous St Patrick's School in the Kenyan town of Iten, Rudisha looked ahead to his race in Doha which will be his first outing over two laps of the track following his 1:44.33 in Melbourne in March.
“I want to win the Diamond Race for a third time. I am always wanting to compete in the Diamond League and it's my aim to be the winner of the Diamond League at the end of the season.
“Last year, I was a little bit worried because I missed some races in the early season because of injury; but I was lucky, I managed to come good at the right time and did well in the remaining races which took me to the top of the 800m rankings.
“This year I will be running in the Diamond League meetings before and after the Olympic Games. Racing in the Diamond League is part of my preparations this year, just like in the other years; racing in the Diamond League was part of my preparations for breaking the World record (in 2010) and for the World Championships last year.
“My training so far has been going well, I've just come back from Australia where I was running in two meetings. Last year I came back from there and then I got injured but this time there has been no problems, I feel good.
“This year I'm feeling very comfortable at the moment and I don't want to change anything. I've been competing in Doha since 2007, apart from last year when I was injured, it's a good place to go early in the season and it's been part of my regular programme and I like to compete there.”
Samsung Diamond League - 2012 Calendar
- Doha, QAT - 11 May
- Shanghai, CHN - 19 May
- Rome, ITA - 31 May
- Eugene, USA - 2 June
- Oslo, NOR - 7 June
- New York, USA - 9 June
- Paris, FRA - 6 July
- London, GBR - 13 / 14 July
- Monaco, MON - 20 July
- Stockholm, SWE - 17 August
- Lausanne, SUI - 23 August
- Birmingham, GBR - 26 August
- Zürich, SUI - 30 August
- Brussels, BEL - 7 September