Abubaker Kaki Khamis (; born 21 June 1989) is a

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

ese runner who specializes in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

. He is a two-time World Indoor Champion over the distance and also won gold at the

2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games took place between 11 and 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers is the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were held there. Besides Algeria, only Niger ...

. He represented Sudan at the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

. He is a member of the Messiria ethnic minority.

Running career

In February 2008 he ran a world-leading 2:15.7 in the 1000 m indoors in Sweden. On March 9, 2008, in Valencia, Kaki became the youngest ever World Indoor champion after winning the 800 m final at age 18 years and 262 days. On June 6, 2008, he won the

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bisl ...

Golden League meeting in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

by running 1:42.69, a new world junior record. The previous record (1:43.64) was set by

Japheth Kimutai Japheth Kimutai (born December 20, 1978, in Lelmokwo, Nandi District) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specialized in 800 metres. In 1998 he won the gold medal at the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games in a time of 1:43.82. In the same year h ...

of Kenya in 1997. The following month he entered the

2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2008 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Bydgoszcz in Poland at the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium between 8 and 13 July 2008. Previously Bydgoszcz hosted ...

as the 800 m favorite. He was closely followed by

Geoffrey Kibet Geoffrey, Geoffroy, Geoff, etc., may refer to: People * Geoffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * Geoffroy (surname), including a list of people with the name * Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095–c. 1155), clergyman and one of the ...

in the final but he managed to pull clear on the final

straight Straight may refer to: Slang * Straight, slang for heterosexual ** Straight-acting, an LGBT person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of the gay stereotype * Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture Sport and games * ...

to win the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

. Kaki finished 8th in the third semi-final for the 800 m and did not advance to the final at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

. In the 2009 World Championships in Berlin he tripped in the semi-final, and did not complete the race. Kaki retained his title at the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation ...

at the age of twenty, becoming only the second athlete after

Paul Ereng Paul Ereng (born 22 August 1966) is a former Kenyan athlete, and the surprise winner of the 800 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Born in Kitale, Trans-Nzoia, Kenya, Paul Ereng attended Starehe Boys Centre and School in Nairobi, Kenya. He wa ...

to complete the feat in the men's 800 m. In the outdoor season, he made his first appearance in the

2010 IAAF Diamond League The 2010 Diamond League season was the first season of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 14 May in Doha, Qatar and ended on 27 August in Brussels, Belgium. Superseding the Europ ...

in an 800 m match-up against David Rudisha. Both runners defeated

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medal ...

's 31-year-old meeting record, but Kaki was not fast enough to beat Rudisha. Kaki's time of 1:42.23 was a new Sudanese record and, at the time, the fastest 800 m time ever recorded for a non-winning athlete. He won at the Memorial Primo Nebiolo later that month in another quick time of 1:43.48.Sampaolo, Diego (2010-06-13)
Kaki scorches 1:43.48, Robles improves to 13.08 in Turin

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

. Retrieved on 2010-06-14. Since then he made the 800m final at the London 2012 Olympic Games where he finished 7th in 1.43.32, a season's best performance.

Achievements

Personal bests

All Information taken from IAAF profile.IAAF, Kaki Abubaker biography:
Kaki Abubaker biography
/ref> Key: † = National record

References

External links

*
Read Abubaker Kaki Khamis' Rising Star profile on spikesmag.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaki Khamis, Abubaker 1989 births Living people People from West Kurdufan Sudanese male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Sudan Olympic male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Sudan African Games gold medalists for Sudan African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games World Athletics Indoor Championships winners