I always remember the girl who finished second having a rant after the race saying that “Holmes has no honour because she knows that another meter I would have won that race” Unfortunately love it isn’t called the 800 and one meter race. 🤷♂️
An incredible race with incredible commentary from Crammy and Brendan Foster. Dame Kelly Holmes got the tactics spot on in fact the top 3 in this race Holmes, Benhassi and Ceplak were 6th, 7th and 8th at the start of the last lap and they ended up 1-2-3. That is the proof that middle distance races are tactical warfare. Jearl Miles Clark a world champion in her own right over 400m in Stuttgart '93 did Kelly a massive favour by towing the field round at a very quick pace the first lap was 56.3 whilst the the second lap was 60.0. But it was so close because Benhassi and Ceplak so nearly stole it from her in the blanket finish which saw Mutola run out of it. Benhassi's silver was a great result for her Crammy and Foster did mention that she had a great finish and she delivered and Ceplak's bronze was a great result as well because as Crammy mentioned the world record holder at 800m indoors hadn't been in great form going into the games but she turned up when it mattered and got into the medals. The scary thing about this was Kelly was originally not going to run in the 800 she was only going to do the 1500m but at the Norwich Union International event in Birmingham a month prior to the games she beat Ceplak by a big margin which gave her confidence. She only made the decision to double up 5 days before the 800m and what a decision it was. Crammy summed it up at 5:43 this was the culmination of a long, painful, emotional road for Kelly, a silver and bronze from the '95 worlds behind 2 all time greats in Ana Quirot and Hassiba Bulmerka, run out of it in the Masterkova Olympics in 96, unbeaten going into the 97 worlds and then pulling up injured in the heats, bronze in Sydney after 6 weeks training, commonwealth champion in Manchester 02, silver in Paris 03 and now finally Olympic glory.
I've watched this race so many times since 2004. This imo is the best clip of it on RU-vid. The commentary was excellent. Brendan Foster predicted her tactics to the T. The prior assesment of the runners was spot on. This was top notch commentary by two former world class athletes. After all those years of disappointment Kelly was physically fit and able to run her race..... and won the Olympic gold medal.
This is one of the best fields ever in women's middle distance running. What a performance to win gold. I remember thinking that I had burst a blood vessel screaming at the TV over the last 50 metres.
Ceplak was right - another metre and Holmes would not have won gold. That is how perfectly she ran that race Ceplak ran a perfect 801 metre race. Hats off your dameship ❤
Ceplak mistimed her finish because she and Benhassi were closing fast on Holmes but it was still a great bronze medal for her because as Crammy mentioned that season the then 800m world record holder indoors had been out of sorts going into the games but she turned up when it mattered
Such an impressive performance of consistency from Holmes. Isn't sport cruel sometimes though. Maria Mutola went from 1st to 4th in the space of 2 metres, and it was the final 2 metres!
Absolutely love this, very reminiscent of the legendary Wottle 800m, both right at the back and came through at the end, wonderful, I remember watching this live and screaming at the TV 😍😍
I remember watching this as a 10 year old, on holiday with my parents and brother. It was on in all the pubs and bars, and the whole place we were at erupted when she won. Lots of good memories of just pure joy.
From Ovett to Holmes I've watched every British runner and since. Steve Cram commentary. O I remember when Cram creamed the world as well. It makes me so proud xx
Amazing memories they don't breed em like Kelly anymore still gives me goosebumps she was so confident in her ability to chase mutola n the rest down PRIDE OF BRITAIN DAME KELLY HOLMES🥇🥇🥇🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
It was Ceplak the then indoor world record holder at 800m wasn't at her best form going into the games as Crammy and Brendan Foster mentioned but she turned up when it mattered
You can only beat who is in front of you but my memory is that several of the very top athletes were not competing in the 800m at these games and that KH best time for the 800m was well below the best in the world at the time. But gold medals mean everything.
KH's winning time was 1:56.39 it actually wasn't far off the world lead which was the Russian Tatyana Andrianova. As Crammy mentioned right at the start Andrianova had the world leading time going into the games which was 1:56.23. But considering the Russian champs were only a couple of weeks prior to the games she went missing in this final she got her tactics wrong by running with the pace set by Miles Clark which was quicker than the race needed to be. In fact the other 2 Russians in the field Svetlana Cherkasova and Natalya Khrushchelyova both were eliminated in the semi finals. Also another thing Kelly was unsure going into the games whether she was actually going to take part in the 800 even though she beat Ceplak at the Norwich Union International event in Birmingham in the lead up to Athens she only decided 5 days before the 800m that she was going to do it. It turned out to be an inspired decision.
Perfect running....you know 100% your time....first lap, second lap, let the hot heads run themselves out....just stick to your time and your pace. Believe in your pace. Your pace will see you through.
She was a tremendous runner. Some time after the Olympic double I was waiting in the traffic on Chelsea Bridge and there she was talking with a couple of people all in jogging gear, and her head was on a 360 degree swivel, Im famous whos looking at me type of thing, consumed with self regard. I must admit I felt rather disappointed.
I thought Maria Mutola looked like a man. But by Jove Old Chap or Chapess….! But that missy Ceplak deffo looks 👀 like a bloke. The best woman won on the day. The amount of near misses and injuries Dame Kelly Holmes had, had over the years made it even more enjoyable than ever in my book. Also the look 👀 of astonishment on her face. Magical. Then she went on to win the 1500m later. Pure Gold X’s 2. Go on Kelly, ya showed the world. Numero Uno….!
In what way has Sifan Hassan based her style on Kelly Holmes? I can't see any resemblance in terms of their respective running style, tactics or come to that anything physical at all as they are built very differently and have a stride that is very different. Sorry I can see absolutely no resemblance between the two at all other than they both run the 1500m(which this race wasn't). This race was run at a distance that Sifan has not run at the highest level(which is saying something as Sifan has competed at a great variety of distances).
@@tommytempo1 Ed è corretta durante la gara, saluta sempre tutte le avversarie con gentilezza,poi è bella ..molto. Insomma" for Budapest my first one is KEELY HODGINKSON " GOLD".
@@tommytempo1 I have to say Hodginkson is very very good could she better than Dame Kelly if she keeps free of injury I think she could emulate her achievements
I find Kelly sympathetic, but she looked so unhealthy anorexic in Athens. Scary almost, her hollow eyes. Very differerent from her normal looks (in Sydney 2000 for example). It's great reat she gained her double triumph. And even better she could retire with that, because competing/living long term , with low weight like that could not be good ..
