Friday, March 17, 2006
Do you know your 800m history?
In 1978 Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, both of Britain, were considered to be the greatest middle distance runners in the world. The fact that they almost never ran against each other (7 times in 15 years) helped stoke their legend and the press was always looking for proof of their theory that the two disliked each other. At a recent breakfast Coe recalled the first 800 that the two ran head to head.
(click the 'read more' button for the rest)
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Coe recalled the 800m at the 1978 European Championships in Prague, the first of their head-to-head clashes to command world attention. Coe led to 700m and when he faded, Ovett ghosted by him for what looked like certain victory. Ovett ended up with a national record but only the silver medal as the little-known East German, Olaf Beyer, sprinted past both Britons to take the gold.
Coe said: "After the race, I was virtually on all fours, desperately trying to get some oxygen into my lungs, when Steve came over, put his hand on my shoulder and said something. I guess the media thought we were having a row but what Steve actually said was, 'Who the **** was that?' "
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Coe's dad was also his coach and Seb had this to say about his dad's advice about the race:
Seb said he remembers his fathers words clearly, "I want you to run as hard as you can for as long as you can". Seb followed his word exactly and went thru in 49.32 and 1:16 at the 6, only to start dying with 100 to go. "I knew I had nothing left and was waiting for a white vest to come sailing past", which it did, "He even managed to smile at me" Seb recalls. All of a sudden the blue vest of East German Beyer flew past the both of us and went on to win in a new European record of 1:43.8 with Ovett second breaking Seb's UK record with 1:44.09 (the fastest time Ovett would ever run). His father was pleased with his effort and he said "Good, now we just have to work on running two laps as fast as the first".
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And lastly, Ovett describes how he met his coach and got his start:
Ovett talked about meeting Harry Wilson his long time coach by chance when he showed up late to a training day. He was scheduled to work with the sprint group, but got there late and was sent to join the distance group, where they had him run a series of 1000m reps. The rest as they say was history
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Okay, one more snippet, just because it is so good. These comments are from the same breakfast and are recounted by someone who was there :
Next he(Ovett) talked about his race in the World cup final in 81 when he kicked so hard that a clearly blown John Walker had to step off the track with 200m to go. Ovett was puzzled when he looked back after crossing the line as to the whereabouts of Walker. A few minutes later Walker walked past and muttered to Ovett, "Why did you have to go and do that?".
Ovett also discussed the day he won a half marathon race the week before breaking the mile WR. He was only there because a few club mates asked him to drive them to the race in the mini van. Ovett entered the race with the intentions of getting his 10 mile workout completed for the day, but due to his competitive nature, he kept going and moved to the lead just after 10 miles to win the race by over a minute.
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Good luck to everone on saturday!
Read more!
(click the 'read more' button for the rest)
#####
Coe recalled the 800m at the 1978 European Championships in Prague, the first of their head-to-head clashes to command world attention. Coe led to 700m and when he faded, Ovett ghosted by him for what looked like certain victory. Ovett ended up with a national record but only the silver medal as the little-known East German, Olaf Beyer, sprinted past both Britons to take the gold.
Coe said: "After the race, I was virtually on all fours, desperately trying to get some oxygen into my lungs, when Steve came over, put his hand on my shoulder and said something. I guess the media thought we were having a row but what Steve actually said was, 'Who the **** was that?' "
####
Coe's dad was also his coach and Seb had this to say about his dad's advice about the race:
Seb said he remembers his fathers words clearly, "I want you to run as hard as you can for as long as you can". Seb followed his word exactly and went thru in 49.32 and 1:16 at the 6, only to start dying with 100 to go. "I knew I had nothing left and was waiting for a white vest to come sailing past", which it did, "He even managed to smile at me" Seb recalls. All of a sudden the blue vest of East German Beyer flew past the both of us and went on to win in a new European record of 1:43.8 with Ovett second breaking Seb's UK record with 1:44.09 (the fastest time Ovett would ever run). His father was pleased with his effort and he said "Good, now we just have to work on running two laps as fast as the first".
####
And lastly, Ovett describes how he met his coach and got his start:
Ovett talked about meeting Harry Wilson his long time coach by chance when he showed up late to a training day. He was scheduled to work with the sprint group, but got there late and was sent to join the distance group, where they had him run a series of 1000m reps. The rest as they say was history
####
Okay, one more snippet, just because it is so good. These comments are from the same breakfast and are recounted by someone who was there :
Next he(Ovett) talked about his race in the World cup final in 81 when he kicked so hard that a clearly blown John Walker had to step off the track with 200m to go. Ovett was puzzled when he looked back after crossing the line as to the whereabouts of Walker. A few minutes later Walker walked past and muttered to Ovett, "Why did you have to go and do that?".
Ovett also discussed the day he won a half marathon race the week before breaking the mile WR. He was only there because a few club mates asked him to drive them to the race in the mini van. Ovett entered the race with the intentions of getting his 10 mile workout completed for the day, but due to his competitive nature, he kept going and moved to the lead just after 10 miles to win the race by over a minute.
###
Good luck to everone on saturday!
Read more!
