Download - "SEB COE vs STEVE OVETT 'CLASH OF TITANS' 1980s BBC SPORT" -NOW!
Added: Mar 5, 2007
From: wayzotoichi
Duration: 7:38
STOP PRESS (re: leloby) - "4. natural ability..inclination..special genius.....Synonyms: gift, talent, aptitude, faculty." (quoted from an online dictionary)Sebastian Coe was a genius, Steve Ovett was a genius. Steve Cram joined them, for the greatest era of British middle distance running ever seen!! Although the likes of Daley Thompson and Carl Lewis have not shown up since either, these middle-distance runners were the kings of the track, and these guys' awesome rivalry (all the way to the end) made the events worth their weight in gold, silver and bronze...
Channel: Education
Tags: 1000 1500 1980 1980s 1984 800 angeles athletics bbc clash coe cram distance grandstand los meters metres mile of olympics ovett running seb sebastian seoul steve titans ussr
Rating: 4.89 (55 ratings) Views: 70633' favoriteCount='221 Comments: 25
wayzotoichi Says:
Jun 3, 2008 - You did make me think in addition to the others, Lagat is someone I would compare closely to the Coe and Ovett era, as his determination has won him 1500 and 5000 metre golds. That sort of double is a class apart. El Gerrouj, Ngeny..damn it would be like the ultimate Rocky Balboa plot of athletics. If only Coe were fifteen years younger..or more!
deano27671 Says:
Jun 3, 2008 - For a start the attitude towards & opportunity for fast times in the early 80's was completely different to that of the late 90's. The pace making was often appalling during the 80's & it was more important to win than set fast times. Coe had perhaps 3 or 4 planned attempts at 1500m & Mile in his career, whereas EL G seemed to attempt it 3 or 4 times a season, helped with a band of dedicated pacemakers from his own country that gave him exactly the pace he wanted.
deano27671 Says:
Jun 3, 2008 - I tried posting this quite a few times, so it might appear on here several times! Sorry!
deano27671 Says:
Jun 3, 2008 - When Coe asked for 3 laps of 56 secs in 81 he was given 52, 57 and 59! No one was capable of taking him through 1200m in the 2:48 he wanted, so he had to run the last 500-700m on his own. Secondly, 2 advancements in track surfaces in 91 & 96 meant that a 1500m time after that was c. 1.2 seconds faster.
deano27671 Says:
Jun 4, 2008 - Thus the 3:29.7 that Coe ran in 86 (at 30), in which he stumbled at the bell (costing him c.0.5sec) & should have been a new WR in around 3:29.2, would be worth approx 3:28.0 on the tracks that EL G and Ngeny were afforded in the late 90's. Thirdly, Coe ran just 8 1500m or Miles between 78 and 83 (not including the Olympics), fewer than EL G ran in a typical season! Had he ran the event more frequently then he would have had a much higher % of achieving a time more indicative of his ability.
deano27671 Says:
Jun 4, 2008 - Be in no doubt, if any of those 3 were running today, they would still be favourites for the major medals. Wayzotoichi is correct in saying that had Coe been around in EL G's time or vice versa, he would have adjusted his training to be running right up there with him. I have to say I am a little sceptical of some of the performances set in the late 90's, during the era when EPO was undetectable.
deano27671 Says:
Jun 4, 2008 - How many of those athletes setting ridiculously fast times at distances from 800m to 10000m were still able to repeat them post 2003 when a reliable test emerged!? I'm not saying that all performances from that era are suspect, but the rate of increase in performance was far more rapid at that time than during any other.
deano27671 Says:
Jun 5, 2008 - Moreover, if Coe could run 3:29.2 at 30, then with the right pace and opposition he should have been able to run at least a second faster earlier in his career. That brings us to 3:28.2, which is worth c. 3.27.0 on modern tracks. There is a lot of evidence to support the fact that Ovett, Coe and Cram were all capable of sub 3:29, and anyone who just looks at P.B's and thinks that EL G is worth 3.5 secs better than those 3 is very naive.
pretzelberg Says:
Jul 16, 2008 - What I've never understood is how these people can basically run flat-out for a mile, put in a finishing sprint - and then calmly jog around the stadium ...
proff180 Says:
Aug 13, 2008 - This brings back fond memories for me, I idolised both Seb Coe and Steve Ovett back then, they both dominated athletics in the 70's and it was inevitable that the question would arise about who was the best of the two, I still don't know really, I found athletics was so much more interesting back in their time then today.
wayzotoichi Says:
Aug 16, 2008 - YEah absolutely, I mean...they were like gods..or the closest thing to it in athletics.
MadSlantedPowers Says:
Aug 19, 2008 - What is the name of the commentator in these clips? I've heard him in a lot of these videos. I wish someone like that could call the races on American TV.
MadSlantedPowers Says:
Aug 24, 2008 - Thanks. I actually came across his name elsewhere before I saw your response. I guess he retired shortly after the 2000 Olympics without much fanfare from the BBC. He didn't sound quite as good at the end, and didn't say as much, but still pretty good in comparison. The way he rattles off the names and times on these older videos is amazing and shows he was pretty knowledgeable and puts Tom Hammond and Don Wittman to shame.
emeraldj13 Says:
Sep 19, 2008 - It brought back some really good memories for me as well. I could watch them run over and over. You just don't get that same class and excitement in athletics. I remember the weeks where the world record fell almost daily (or so it felt like!). Coe was an exciting athlete and had a perfect style. I'm off for a run..hahaha
emeraldj13 Says:
Sep 19, 2008 - hmm..or it may be that they were extraordinary athletes. All the same...a valid point.
Calatron2202 Says:
Sep 27, 2008 - Is there any chance you have any of the other episodes in the series like the Old Firm clash mate cheers
wayzotoichi Says:
Oct 12, 2008 - no mate, this is all I had :( but there's probably loads of new clips on Coe, OVett and company since I uploaded this a while back..and a few good documentaries from the time as well. Hope you find some more of what you're after. :)
lachie10 Says:
Oct 23, 2008 - ovett's son is in my grade and he is an absolute freak at running as well
wayzotoichi Says:
Oct 23, 2008 - what age is he? How fast can he run 800 metres..? very interested to know.
lachie10 Says:
Oct 24, 2008 - well im 14 but when i was about 11 i think he ran like a 2:17 which is frickin awesome for that age
wayzotoichi Says:
Oct 24, 2008 - wow I wish I was still 14 :( Ovett's son U11 2:17 is outstanding, which just proves genetics/background is important. I was really serious in 800/1500 metres, 2:14 was my U-13 PB which I still think is good, I'm gonna ignore that Ovett stat haha!
wayzotoichi Says:
Jun 3, 2008 - yes ghai38 it also makes me wonder what Coe would have done to match an adversary achieving times like El Gerrouj can..I think even high school track athletes could shave some valuable seconds off their hard-won low-altitude PBs by training high up. I genuinely believe he would have left the UK and gone to train at altitude, after all winning meant everything to him, an everything which was slightly bigger than other people's meaning of the word.
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