I lived in Ireland at the time of the Coe / Ovett rivalry. I can always remember the 9 o'clock news being interrupted in order to go live to Oslo, Zurich, Brussles or wherever when Coe or Ovett were running. Phenomenal time for track and field and never repeated since.
I was in Ireland in 1981 when Coe broke the mile record in Zurich (I think). A few days later on the day I came back to England and Ovett reclaimed it - somewhere in Germany I think. A couple of days later we were watching Coe in Brussels - me and my cousin were huge Coe fans and my Uncle and Our Kid were massive Ovett fans (my Dad was still in Ireland but was a Coe fan also). Watched in disbelief as Coe smashed the record again - he would have been 8m ahead of Ovett's mark and 10m ahead of his own a week earlier. Great days.
Amazing...I remember this so well. A slow pace was always going to play to Coe's strength...that sprint finish. The 1500 is for me the highlight of any olympics because it has endurance, power, tactics, luck, strength, cleverness....etc...all playing into the result. Forget the 100m power event...the 1500 is the ultimate mix of all the qualities needed to become a world class athlete.
I’d have to concur. It also helps looking at it from a British point of view😜. Especially as it looks like those Glory Days are possibly being revived.
@@bryangreen9672they didn’t avoid each other in championships, and obviously they were not going to set themselves up against the other in a WR attempt.
Ironic how days before Ovett took Coe’s pet race being the 800m, then Coe took Ovett’s pet 1500m event! Brilliant runners & favourites of mine! Cheers from Australia 🇦🇺
In the 80s in middle distance running everyone feared Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram. You also had Peter Elliot as well. A great time for British middle distance running.
Magical days. I’ve been a massive fan of athletics since the 1984 Olympics but that turned out to be the tail end of this extraordinary and historic rivalry. Whilst both Coe and Ovett are indisputable greats (Coe arguably an all time great given that he would surely have one at least one WC gold had he not been ill in both 83 and 87) Cram didn’t quite achieve enough in terms of gold medals albeit he was absolutely unbeatable in 1985. He never beat Coe in a global final.
I saw Sebastian Coe run in the 4x400 relay for Loughborough University at Crystal Palace. Of course, he was the anchor but he was 30 yards behind when he took the baton. I thought, "He's not going to make that up!" I got to see world class speed that day, breathtaking!!
@@stoolpigeon4285 I think Straub's arms went in the air at the end, not just because of the silver medal but that he had beaten Ovett, An athlete who had beaten him (Straub) so many times before.
@@stoolpigeon4285 Why should he be proud of likely being blood doped in the hours before that race, enabling him to race well beyond what he was normally and naturally capable of, denying Ovett not only silver, but possibly the gold (as it would have been a completely different race. Not to mention that Straub made his heat with Ovett unnecessarily fast, which left Ovett more tired than Coe for the final). Having said that, Crammy probably looked at that race and thought - 'hmm.. that's how you race against Coe and Ovett'. Not the drugs of course, but the tactics.
"You don't become a bad athlete in a week." What a great line that so many athletes need to hear. I coach high school runners. I need to show my guys this video and focus on that line. Don't ever give up.
Actually that's a similar thing Harry Wilson said about Buckner winning a high quality 5000m in the Euros' 1986. He was referring to his man, Ovett, trouncing both Buckner and Hutchings in the Commonwealth 5000m four weeks earlier but reversing it with Buckner to 'you don't become a great athlete in four weeks'
52 for the last lap. Coe looked stressed for the last 600m. He didn't look as relaxed as he usually looks. But when he needed to kick it was devastating. One of the great major races of all time, even without some of top runners whose nations had boycotted. The winner wsa going to come from these two anyway.
I used to see Coe quite a lot when he lived in Sheffield.He ran past me once in November '79, on one of his training runs. He was a slight,slender figure - less than ten stone.He looked so graceful and classical.He had long legs too for a man who wasn't tall What an athlete.
Up until this point the whole world had wondered what would happen with Coe and Ovett if they were both fully fit and neck and neck heading into the home straight. This race answered that question. 👍
Well, I was more of a Coe fan, being a Yorkshire man and what with Seb’s obvious connections with the region, even if he wasn’t born there. But to be fair to Steve it was one each, both having struck against the head in what was perceived to be the other’s strongest event.
Coe was always the pure sprinter - he had a 10.44 pb in the 100. But Ovett was the racer - steely under adversity, etc. But Coe was magnificent in his strategy in this race - he basically got the 800 he had wished for earlier in the week! 2:05.7 for the 1st 800??
Ovett said he was not fully engaged in the race emotionally after winning the 800. Coe on the other hand needed this race desperately to redeem himself after a tactically hapless race over the shorter distance where he was a clear favourite to win. I don’t believe you can split Coe, Ovett and Cram in their respective prime form.
coe was a strong 200 runner and even when he was older continued to compete at club level in sprint type events. A champion will do what needs to be done. Most of us would avoid a sprint, embarrassed by getting thrashed in sprint events. But a champion has their eye on the bigger picture and a totally clear idea of process. Placing yourself under race conditions at a shorter distance hones your instinct about how to find extra pace when you might need it at 1500 or even beyond. Smart training.
@@richardmilliken5651 Yeah, that Dusseldorf race was insane. There are varying claims for Ryun's splits. I've read his last 400m was run 50.6 (some sources say 51.2, some say 49.9). His last 300m was 36.4, his last 200m was 24.8, and his last 100m was 11.6. (At least from the sources I've found) Coe also ran an 800m in Helsinki in 1981 with a final 100m in 11.3
Coe & Ovett were two very classy runners, both had different styles but they were both class. I was more of an Ovett fan, but that's to take nothing away from my admiration for Coe. We were lucky as fans to have world class athletes to watch and I was 15 years old watching the Moscow Games. Sadly our Irish athletes didn't medal that year.
@Richard Milliken come on! The faster the face does not mean the more exciting... I would much rather a final like rio, where Centrowitz, who was no where near the favourite, managed to beat the likes of kiprop and Makhloufi. As opposed to a final like Doha which was a ‘honest pace’ where Cheryiout goes off and makes it a battle for Silver instead of gold. I don’t know how you can prefer the later...
43 years on I was 13 years old we was all glued too the television 🤣 well done SEB you must off been under so so much pressure must off been coaching himself with freight because he lost his race, 800meters wow.
Grandes momentos. MI padre amaba a estos corredores. En Paraguay sabíamos de ellos solo x revistas o diarios. No había filmaciones de Moscú ni mundiales. Hoy, q el no está connosotros, podemos verlos retrospectivamente. Gracias a quienes pusieron estos materiales gloriosos.
I remember watching this and the 800m live. It was strange became Coe should have won the 800m and Ovette the 1500m and it turned out the complete opposite results. Both great runners.
Strange how certain periods in time, we became dominant in world class Sports, both men and women. Great runner's, Snooker players, Ice Skater's, football, Rugby etc , then periods of disapointment.
A tactically brilliant race by Seb. As he would do in '84 with Cram, Seb would keep the lead on his rivals and use his kick speed, especially over the final 150m, to win the day. No runner had Seb's top end speed at this distance, as both Ovett and Cram learned. (Great race by the Russian!)
@@redrum4100 explain how Coe whipped Cram in 1984. I'm sure Cram is loving looking at his Olympic silver, and Coe and Ovett are polishing the Olympic gold.
All that is besides the point I originally made, which was if "No runner had Seb's top end speed at this distance, as both Ovett and Cram learned" then why did he not outkick Cram at the 1986 Europeans, especially when he, Coe, was clearly super fit. The original poster simply answered the question with another question, and you have carried on where that left off, but as yet nobody has answered my question.
Saw him in Central London 3 days ago at the Curzon cinema on Shaftesbury Avenue. Got star - struck and couldn't get any words out. Apparently it was the first showing of a Daley Thompson documentary. The swimmer Sharon Davies was also there.
@@Revolver1981he might be smug,,, but in them time's / AFGHANISTAN GETTING INVADED BY RUSSIA/ SEB COE DEFYING HIS HEROINE MAGGIE THATCH/ ;A* _ FUKKA,,,, AND GOING TO MOSCOW /EVEN THOUGH MAGGIE TOLD THE ATHLETES NOT TO GO THEN "YOU'RE NOT GOING!!!!!!!!! AND GIVING US FANTASTIC MEMORIES MILLIONS WILL NEVER FORGET!!!!!!! OVETT AND COE WERE THAT ALOOF, THAT'S HOW THEY CARRIED ON,,,SO GENUINELY PROUD TO REPRESENT THEIR COUNTRY,,,,, EVEN TAKING THE CHANCE OF A REPEAT OF THE MUNICH TERRORIST DISASTER OF 1972 !!!!!!!! Smug????? Yeah,,, BUT COE,OVETT,CRAM ,THE WHOLE BRITISH TEAM WALK-IN INTO AN RUSSIAN OLYMPIC, MINEFIELD IN MOSCOW SMACK BANG IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND AFGHANISTAN KNOWING THE FATALITY OF COMPETING IN THEM BOYCOTTED GAAMES//// THEY WE'RE,,,,,,,, BRAVE,,,,,, BEYOND COURAGEOUS,,,,,, and it all came out on sebs face at the end of the 1500,,,, LOOK !!!!!!!! Then LOOK AGAIN,,,,,,,,, !!!!!!! LEGEND !!!!!!SMUG?????? YES?? BUT A TRUE LEGEND!!!!!! AND! STEVE OVETT IS THE MAIN REASON COE DROVE HIMSELF ON SOOOO HARD IN TRAINING AND IN WHOLE RUNNING CAREER!!!!!!!!!!!! STEVE OVETT WAS THE ONE THAT PUSH THE BUTTON ON SEBS ROCKET POWER ,,,ALONG WITH HIS FATHER!!!!!!!!!!
Coe, Cram and Ovett would again meet in the final of the 1500 in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Ovett dropped out in the middle of the race due to respiratory problems and Coe outran Cram in the stretch to not only win, but break the Olympic record in what many consider to be one of the greatest 1500 finals in Olympic history.
@@ossyable I think he would. But if you offered him an Olympic Gold medal in replace of his World Record he definitely would take the Olympic Gold Medal.
@@ebojfmdboojoh4023 I’m bit confused as you appear to be making both arguments. I have heard Cram say world records are eventually broken but you can never take away your gold medals.
Not necessarily, because although both held World records in events both lost, Overt did tend to get boxed in a lot. Cram was unpredictable too, but Coe was the tachtician. Surprising, that he lost the 800, but that intensified his focus on the 1500.
Coe learned a lesson from the previous 800 by not being way behind this time. He should have won that 800 but made a bad error by getting so far behind.
Seb Coe war einfach einmalig. Aber 1980 hat er von Thomas Wessinghages Abwesenheit profitiert: er war der einzige, der Coe den Sieg streitig hätte machen können
@@VictorOctavian I know for a fact, that juantorena, had far superior basic speed than coe, more than two seconds quicker, they very different types of 800 meter runners.
Apart from the obvious Brit glory, I forever remember Straub's reaction in this race. As he crosses the line he feels like has won the Earth by getting 2nd! So he had: it was incredibly gutsy to go for it 600m out, and his best hope beforehand was orobably to beat 'the rest' and get bronze, but when he'd split the big two he felt 'wow'!
Matt Bonneville his pb was I believe 46.9 but he rarely ran the event. He did run 4*400m relays and had 45 second splits . I agree , if he actually trained and concenterated on 400m he would have been sub 46 seconds.
@@MrLuigiFercotti you don't say that Coe had the same speed as Wariner, that's just plain crazy. He ran a 46 400 against Wariner's 43.4 400 m. Not even close. If Coe focused on 400 m he could do a low 45.
Ovett appeared to be strugglng all the way the final 300 meters. He was just only keeping up with the leaders. Silver was within his power but he could not do much in the final home stretch. By contrast Coe was in powerful command of the race and was unbeatable on the day.
@@mathematics5573 Coe's closing splits here were - 52.2, 38.6, 25.0, 12.1 In LA (which was quite a bit quicker overall) they were - 53.2, 39.2, 25.7, 12.7
And there was the young Steve Cram. Whose time would come… with the 1,500m gold medal at the 1983 World Championships and the 1,500m silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.
im not sure coe had a better kick than ovett tbh,this race was about who wanted/needed it most.ovett also made his old mistake of concentrating on coe and not the race in general
My thought is that Ovett's only chance would have been to make a long, hard run for home with perhaps 300m to go, but Coe would likely have not let him pass anyway -- he kept himself in front of Ovett the whole race. He had the same strategy against Cram in '84. And not to take anything away from Ovett's brilliant 800m win in '80, but Coe gave away his own chance to win that race by being way too far off the pace with 200m remaining. It all made for great Olympic drama!
Possibly correct. Coe admitted in his book that he couldn't get focussed on the 800- a rare event for him - but Ovett 's style was unpredictable and it's unbelievable that he still had the 1500 World record in 1984, so could have come out with no gold in that event. That was Coe's main event.
Great race, but a shame it was ruined by the intervention of Straub. Ovett had left too much on the track in the heats ensuring he didn't loose his unbeaten record. He should have won the race. Coe is amazing but Ovett was always just a little bit better as a racer. Also, contrast how Ovett took the loss with how Coe took the 800 m loss. All the athletes in my day loved Ovett. He also turned out for his club on a regular basis and never showed off.
Looking back it seems pretty straightforward. If Coe and Ovett were together coming into the back straight Coe was a faster sprinter and would win. If Ovett pushed for home from the bell he could create enough of a gap to mitigate the sprint. Theory is easy!
Indeed. The Thatcher government did not want the athletes to go, but did not actively prohibit them, as the Yanks did. Good thing as well, as this contest between Coe and Ovett was (for my heart and soul) the most dramatic athletics confrontation ever witnessed...
@@charliemagri1669 They weren't banned, they chose to boycott the Games in protest at the IOC's refusal to ban New Zealand after their rugby side had toured South Africa.
At a time ehen England had something t fight for in the 8-1500. My i loved Coe but he always came off 2nd best t Ovety which made this 1off win f the little man oh so much sweeter.
Going into the Olympics, Coe held the world record in the 800m and Ovett had the world record in the 1500m. So of course Ovett won the 800 and Coe won the 1500 😆
T all newcomers t Athletics,u have to understand that.... It was like City v Pool; Federer v Nadal; Korbut v Comenci, England v Australia in Cricket;Ali v Joe Frazer-Klitchco v Anthony etc
poor race tactically by overtime allowing it to slow and play into the hands of the 800m runner. coe was criticised for bad tactics in the 800m final but overtime run a worse tactical race, getting boxed but then got lucky. two great athletes.
