and patience to finish unbeaten on 29. The fourth-wicket pair added 64, but in blunting out 19.4 overs, they ensured New Zealand had limited the n

RIO DE JANEIRO -- David Rudisha glanced to his left twice as he came round 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 on Monday, giving no one else a chance and becoming the first man in more than half a century to win back-to-back titles over two laps at the Summer Games.Rudisha won in 1 minute, 42.15 seconds from Algerias Taoufik Makhloufi, who ran a national record time of 1:42.61 to add an 800 silver here to his gold in the 1,500 at the last Olympics. Clayton Murphy powered through in the final 50 meters for bronze and a PB of 1:42.93, overhauling Frances Pierre-Ambroise Bosse to make the podium.That was the first medal in the 800 for the United States since Johnny Gray in 1992.Rudisha smiled at the end, a broad, beaming smile, relieved maybe after a trying season where 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, too, 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: The 27-year-old Rudisha has now won four of the last 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, either -- 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.This was unlikely to be like Rudishas once-in-a-lifetime run at the London Olympics four years ago, when he broke the world record in a wire-to-wire victory of such pure dominance that it was rated as a run for the ages.Heavy rain in Rio a little earlier Monday night also left Rudisha and the others with a damp track at the Olympic Stadium, and the Kenyan does not like running in the wet.He dealt with it and more, though, taking the lead from a fast-starting Alfred Kipketer, his teammate, on the back straight, building a cushion, and then never looking like he was going to be caught. His two quick looks to the left let him know that he had it.Richard Snell of New Zealand was the last man to retain his Olympic title in the 800, at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.Some formidable 800 runners, including current IAAF President Sebastian Coe, didnt even win one Olympic title in the event. Coe, an Olympic champion at 1,500, consistently says that Rudisha is one of the best athletes the sport has had.For Rudisha, this victory was absolute confirmation, if he needed it, that hes deserving of such praise from former champions. Hydro Flask Sale . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. Hydro Flask 32 OZ . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. http://www.hydroflaskkorting.com/hydro-flask-kinder.html . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. Hydro Flask Straw Lid .C. - The Carolina Hurricanes have placed backup goalie Anton Khudobin on injured reserve with an unspecified lower-body injury. Hydro Flask Kopen . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. New Zealand 104 for 3 (Raval 55*, Nicholls 29*) trail Pakistan 133 (Misbah 31, de Grandhomme 6-41, Southee 2-20) by 29 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIt was a tale of two debutants on a fascinating day of Test cricket where ball dominated the bat. Although the final analysis of 13 wickets for 237 runs would suggest a menacing surface, the truth was that a lot of batsmen, especially from Pakistan, were out poking or trying to play expansive drives. New Zealand fared much better with the bat, and held the aces as the first Test moved forward at a breakneck speed despite an entire day being washed out by rain in Christchurch.Colin de Grandhomme, the Harare-born Auckland allrounder who had previously taken just one five-wicket haul in 83 first-class games, had the best figures (6 for 41) by a New Zealand debutant. It meant Pakistan, sent in to bat, were rolled over for 133. Misbah-ul-Haq, captaining his country for the 50th time, top scored with a typically feisty 31 off 108 deliveries during the course of which he proved it was the top orders impatience and not a menacing Hagley Oval green top that contributed to their downfall; no other batsman crossed 20.In reply, Jeet Raval, the other debutant, replacing Martin Guptill, overcame a testing new-ball burst to finish 55 not out as New Zealand recovered from early losses of Tom Latham, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor to end on 104 for 3, trailing by just 29 runs. Playing late and committing himself wholeheartedly to his strokes, both off the front and back foot, he picked off seven boundaries and looked at ease even as his partners largely struggled; particularly against Mohammad Amir in a probing opening spell that read 6-2-6-1.Things could have been much worse for New Zealand had Henry Nicholls, replacing Luke Ronchi, not substituted flamboyance for grit and patience to finish unbeaten on 29. The fourth-wicket pair added 64, but in blunting out 19.4 overs, they ensured New Zealand had limited the new-ball damage to potentially make run-scoring a lot easier on the morrow.The surface demanded patience which Pakistan clearly lacked, as their top order crumbled after a solid 31-run opening stand that frustrated New Zealand. In trying to bowl full and swing the ball late, their new ball pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult either slipping the ball down the leg side or bowl it full and wide in the first hour as Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali went iinto their shell, seemingly happy to blunt the new ball.dddddddddddd Then Williamson turned to de Grandhommes seam-ups over Neil Wagners bustling pace, and the move worked immediately. After two poor overs in which he sprayed the ball, de Grandhomme broke through when he scythed through Azhars defence with an in-dipper. The old adage of one brings two ensured when Southee, brought back form the other end, sent back Aslam, who jabbed hard to get a thick edge to Raval at second slip.Babar Azam was reprieved on 4, but couldnt curb his instincts of trying to drive on the up as he was also pouched in the slips. When Younis Khans flashy cover drive to a delivery he could have left alone off de Grandhomme was pouched by Raval in the cordon, Pakistan had sensationally slipped from 31 without loss to 56 for 4.Pakistan slowly rebuilt through a 32-run stand, but the lunch break came to New Zealands rescue as Asad Shafiq, demoted to No. 6 after a fruitless stint at No. 3 in the UAE, poked one to gully. Sarfraz Ahmed tried to unsettle the bowlers by walking outside the crease, giving bowlers the charge and play a typically aggressive game. Not even being hit on the helmet by a steep bouncer altered his approach. Eventually a tame waft resulted in a simple catch at gully to a relieved Todd Astle, who put down a chance earlier in the day.Watching the carnage unfold, Misbah continued to bat on in the hope that he would find some support from the tail. But such was the nature of Pakistans collapse that Williamson resisted temptation to give his faster men a break, and go for the kill. Boult and Southee overcame insipid starts to finish with two wickets apiece.For a while it looked like New Zealands top order would match Pakistans indiscretions. After Tom Latham was lbw to Amir, Williamson, in particular, fell tamely when he pushed away from the body - neither attempting a punch nor a full-blooded cut shot - to be caught at slip. Ross Taylor, all at sea against Sohail Khans late away-swing, was snaffled down leg side to extend his lean patch to 10 innings now to open up the game.With over 25 overs left, two more wickets then may have tilted the scales Pakistans way. That it didnt was largely due to Ravals steadfast determination and Nicholls grit that capped off an eventful day. ' ' '