harassing Gubbins with a short leg and fly slip.

RIO DE JANEIRO -- David Rudisha glanced to his left twice as he came around the final bend, waiting for the challenge to come. It didnt. He didnt let it.The world-record holder surged across the line to retain his Olympic title in the 800 meters Monday. He gave no one else a chance and became the first man in more than half a century to win back-to-back golds over two laps at the Games.This is one of my greatest moments, to come here and defend my title, Rudisha said. There is nothing as great for an athlete as to maintain his performance.Rudisha won in 1 minute, 42.15 seconds, nothing on the incredible 1:40.91 he produced for his wire-to-wire win in London four years ago. But this was always going to be about the medal and not the clock, especially after a heavy downpour earlier in the evening left Rudisha and the others with a damp track at the Olympic Stadium. If theres one thing the Kenyan hates, its running in the wet.Rudisha still finished well ahead of Algerias Taoufik Makhloufi, who ran a national-record time of 1:42.61 to add an 800 silver to his gold in the 1,500 at the previous Olympics. Clayton Murphy powered through in the final 50 meters for bronze and a personal best of 1:42.93, overtaking Frances Pierre-Ambroise Bosse on his way to a long-awaited podium finish for the U.S. It was the first medal in the 800 for an American since Johnny Gray in 1992.Super exciting to race him, Murphy said of Rudisha, and hopefully not the last time I get to race him.Rudisha smiled at the end, a broad, beaming smile, relieved maybe after what started as a trying season. He lost a couple of times in the Diamond League and was beaten into third -- third! -- at the Kenyan trials. He freely offered up hugs to the other medalists as he draped the red, black and green Kenyan flag across his shoulders once again.His legacy as one of the greatest 800 runners was pretty firm already, but he cemented it in Rio de Janeiro. Rudisha, 27, has now won four of the past five major titles, and the only one missing -- the 2013 worlds -- he was injured for.With no strong challenger coming at him -- not in this race, and not in any general sense -- Rudisha has the potential to make history with a third straight gold in four years in Tokyo.He wants to be the best. He is the best at it. He knows hes the best, said American Boris Berian, who was eighth. Its that confidence right there. He takes it out, and he has that confidence to hold on.Rudishas teammate, Alfred Kipketer, set a fast pace from the start -- like a bullet, Rudisha said -- and the defending champion had to hold himself back from getting into an early scrap. Instead, Rudisha waited for the back straight to stretch out his long legs and move past Kipketer. He built a cushion, not a big one, but he never seemed likely to get caught. Those two quick looks to the left as he approached the home straight let him know that he had it.Peter Snell of New Zealand was the last man to retain his Olympic title in the 800, and he did so at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Some formidable recent 800 runners, including current IAAF president Sebastian Coe and Wilson Kipketer, didnt win once in the 800 at the Olympics. Coe, an Olympic champion in the 1,500, consistently says Rudisha is one of the best athletes the sport has had.For Rudisha, this victory was confirmation, if he needed it, that hes deserving of such praise from former champions. Rudisha himself could be confirmation that Kenyas distance-running culture of grass-roots talent and hard work is not being taken over by doping.The Olympics comes only every four years, Rudisha said. 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They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Wholesale Air Max 2019 . Only three players drafted by NHL clubs were included on the Czech selection camp roster on Wednesday. Those players were Dallas Stars 2012 first-rounder Radek Faksa, Winnipeg Jets 2013 fourth-rounder Jan Kostalek and Phoenix Coyotes 2012 seventh-rounder Marek Langhamer. Middlesex 408 for 6 (Gubbins 145, Compton 131, Onions 3-76) lead Durham 204 (Rayner 4-17, Franklin 3-26) by 204 runs Scorecard The hearty cheers that reverberated around Lords told their own tale. Nick Compton had not merely reached a century at HQ, but had helped Middlesex into a position of dominance and, in the process, strengthened his teams hold on the summit of Division One. So as he punched the air in delight at his century, removing his helmet to acknowledge the crowds applause, Compton had much reason to be proud.That recent months have been among the most trying of Comptons professional life hardly needs restating. Indeed, when he brought up his 50, it was his first half-century of the year, and first since his crucial 85 underpinned Englands victory in the Durban Test at the end of 2015.Given these circumstances, and the huge importance of this match to his team, few of Comptons 25 first-class centuries can have been the cause of so much satisfaction. On this evidence, plenty more will be forthcoming in the County Championship. Compton has only just turned 33, retains one of the most resolute defensive techniques in the land and has a ravenous appetite for runs that few can rival in the county game.There seems no reason why, if he has the inclination, he cannot continue to feast in the shires for many years, a little like Marcus Trescothick and Mark Ramprakash, two other players who, for contrasting reasons, enjoyed international careers shorter than they had envisaged.Adhesive defence has been Comptons hallmark, and this innings was no different: he had to summon all of his fortitude to resist Rushwoths swing and the bounce of Mark Wood. And yet Compton revealed plenty more of his game: relentlessly efficient clips through the legside, some imperious hooks, and a succession of meticulously-placed late cuts, including the steer off Scott Borthwick that brought up his century a little before three oclock. While the early stages of his innings had been a little jittery, Compton unobtrusively gained in fluency, using his feet nimbly to spin and outpacing Nick Gubbins during their fertile alliance.Together with Gubbins, Compton added 247 runs in 79.1 overs, and how they fed of each other was highlighted not just by their harrying between the wickets but how Gubbins left his crease so early to laud Compton for his century that Durham might have run him out.This was a match-defining partnership, and a record-breaking one: Middlesexs highest stand for the second wicket against DDurham and only one shy of equalling the record for any wicket.dddddddddddd. Gubbins dismissal also left him one short of being the first batsman to reach 1,000 runs in the County Championship in 2016. Still, he might reflect that 999 runs at 66.60 apiece is not too shabby.Although this was only his third first-class century - Gubbins fell three times in the 90s before reaching his first - it brimmed with not merely assurance and class, but, for those who have witnessed him this season, a certain feeling of inevitability. Given that England are hardly overburdened with proven opening partners for Alastair Cook, it would be a surprise if Gubbins was not rewarded by a England Lions berth.Cricket has always fetishised the grace of the left-hander, and, in his clips through the legside, driving through point and dexterous use of his feet against spin, Gubbins has an elegance in keeping with this tradition. All these shots were in evidence against Durham; more importantly, so was Gubbins grit.How he needed it to withstand Wood. Woods frustration has been palpable all day, and, with Gubbins on 99, he expressed it in an over of short bowling, harassing Gubbins with a short leg and fly slip. Gubbins withstood, and reached his century against Borthwick in the next over, but still Wood returned, a brutal rising delivery from him smashing into Gubbins grill. When Wood eventually found late movement to induce Gubbins to edge to slip and end the second wicket stand, he looked to the sky - less in relief at the wicket, but in exasperation at waiting so long for it.When the second wicket stand was nascent, the previous evening, Gubbins had been spilled behind, off Onions; Compton had also survived two chances to the slips off Chris Rushworth before he has reached 20, one on the first evening and one on the second morning.By the time it finally ended, the alliance between Compton and Gubbins was worth more than the entirety of Durhams first innings and, buttressed by a forceful cameo from Paul Stirling, had secured Middlesex a lead of over 200: a position from which they will expect to win convincingly, in the process extend their lead at the top of Division One.And, as loud as the cheers that greeted Comptons century were, Middlesex can dream of even more boisterous acclaim should they clinch the Championship crown here against Yorkshire in the final game of the season. 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