Double Olympic champ survives plane crash
David Rudisha, a double Olympic champion in middle distance running, is reportedly very lucky to be alive after walking away unharmed following a plane crash in his home country of Kenya.
The light airplane, which was carrying 33-year-old Rudisha and five other passengers, came down in Kajiado county in southeast Kenya on Saturday, with images showing it lying upside-down in a paddock.
Rudisha later described it as a "scary episode".
Rudisha won gold medals in the 800m at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, as well world titles in 2011 and 2015, setting a world record (1min 40.91sec) in the 2012 London Olympics final.
“All was well close to seven or eight minutes into the flight when the engine of the plane suddenly went quiet,” the he told Kenya’s The Daily Nation.
"[The pilot] saw some clear space where he tried to land the plane, but one of its wings hit a tree as the plane started to spin before landing on the rocky field.
"The pilot did an incredible job to keep the plane afloat and stable for long.”
Rudisha also survived a car accident in Kenya in 2019 when a tyre burst and his SUV collided with a bus.
Image: Twitter