Nigeria: Athletes to Remember At London 2012

Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

David Rudisha of Kenya broke his own world record to win the 800m gold medal, while Nigel Amos of Botswana, left, took silver and Timothy Kitum of Kenya, obscured behind Rudisha, won the bronze.

INTRO: The Olympics Games have produced some outstanding stars who took away the breath of the crowd and the global audience with grandstanding performances. Olawale Ajimotokan in London writes on some of the stand out athletes.

Usain Bolt, JAMAICA

The 25-year-old runner became a legend and all-time world greatest sprinter after he bolted off the blocks to successfully defend both the 100 and 200 metres titles. On the two instances, he wowed the huge crowds at the Olympic Park in Stratford who were glad to witness the once in a lifetime feat.

He crossed the finishing line in 9.63second, an Olympic record and ignited a huge party in Jamaica for great effect.

Before now, Carl Lewis was the only athlete to achieve the double following his 100m and 200m gold medals at Los Angeles 84. But four years later in Seoul, the American could only settle for silver in the 200m after winning the gold in the 100m.

What made Bolt's victory special was that in the two finals, he left Yohan Blake, the man who beat him at the Jamaican Olympic trials and considered his biggest rival, in his shadow.

He is now Jamaican's most decorated Olympian as he has now amassed five gold medals, with the 4x 100 relay final in view.

Mo Farah, GREAT BRITAIN

There was huge pressure on Mo Farah to deliver the gold medal in the 10,000 meters. But after he overcame goose pimples to accomplish the feat, he became the first Briton to win an Olympic gold medal in that specialty.

His victory sent emotions running on the night, as Farah was joined in the track by his daughter and wife, who is seven months pregnant with their twins.

Farah was unfazed by the quality of the field he ran with as he bolted away 600m to the end, holding off a strong line up led by the Ethiopian world record holder, Kenenisa Bekele to win.

The 29-year-old arrived Britain as an eight-year-old refugee born to a father who was born and brought up in London. He fled with his family from Somalia civil war and was taken to Hounslow, in west London, barely able to utter a word in English.

In 2010, he won his first major title, the European Championships in Barcelona, where he took gold in the 10,000 metres, and in February last year Farah moved to Oregon, USA, to hone his training with his new coach, Alberto Salazar.

It paid off as he later that month broke the European indoor 5,000m record with a time of 13:10.60, followed by the New York half marathon with a new British record of 1:00:23.

He is expected to be among the Olympic stars to attend a hunger summit with Prime Minister David Cameron Sunday.

The event, co-hosted by Brazil, is designed to show that the Olympic family is aware of the gaping inequalities from which competitors come.

David Rudisha, KENYA

David Rudisha gave Kenyans at home something to relish after he produced what will probably remain the best performance of the athletics events in London 2012 when he stormed to the gold medal and broke his own 800m World record at his first Olympics.

The 23-year-old took the lead from the start, clocked 1:40.91 and improved his two year-old record from Rieti by one tenths of a second.

Botswana's 18-year-old Nijel Amos took silver, with another teenager, Kenya's Timothy Kitum, bronze.

Before the Olympics, he ran sub 1:42 times twice during the season and additionally clocked a staggering 1:42.12 minutes at high altitude in Nairobi during the Kenyan trials.

Winning his race was a display of leadership by Rudisha, who is Kenya's team captain at the Olympics. His father, Daniel, had anchored Kenya to an Olympic silver medal in the 4x400 m back in 1968.

Jessica Ennis, GREAT BRITAIN

She became the darling girl of British athletics after she won the gold medal in heptathlon in a contest of nerves and grit.

The girl from Sheffield sent the whole of Britain into raptures after she won the 800 metres to amass a total of 6,955 points and lead the pack by a huge 306 points.

The public expectation was high on the back of her gold and silver at the world athletics championship in 2009 and 2011 respectively.

Having set three personal bests in the first six events, Ennis was in relentless mood in a two-lap coronation that brought the 80,000 people present to a deafening crescendo.

Ennis had delivered in style during the morning session, producing a brilliant long jump under great pressure and a javelin personal best to lead by 188 points with just the 800m to go.

Though she was not the favourite to win the last event, she finished off in style by overtaking Tatyana Chernova on the home straight to victory.

Tirunesh Dibaba, ETHIOPIA

Ethiopian Dibaba came short in her bid to become the first woman to retain the Olympics 10000 and 5000 in London.

Her inspiration appeared to be the Jamaican Usain Bolt, who retained the double of four years ago by winning the 100 and 200 metres races. Dibaba had coasted five seconds clear of Kenyans Sally Kipyego and Vivian Cheruiyot in 30min 20.75sec to win the 10,000m.

But she suffered heartbreak when compatriot, Meseret Defar shocked her with a stunning last lap to reclaim the Olympic 5,000m title she last won in Athens in 2004. Dibaba had won both titles four years ago in Beijing.

Kirani James, GRANADA

Fresh faced Kirani James stunned the bookies when he won the 400 metres gold medal in a time of 43.94 seconds. It was a performance meant for the textbook as he ended the stranglehold of American to win the title.

It also made him the first athlete from outside the USA to break the 44-second barrier and more importantly, it won Grenada's first ever Olympic medal.

He beat Luguelin Santos of Dominican Republic (44.46 secs) to second place by more than two metres, pushing through the bend like the Picadilly rail line.

At 19, James has already won the World Championship and is touted as one with the capability of breaking Michael Johnson's world record of 43.18sec.

James grew up in "a small fishing community" called Gouyve, where his father works as a labourer. His talent was spotted when he won silver at the World Youth Championships in 2007, and Alabama University gave him an athletics scholarship.

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