Pietro Mennea ran his 19.72......

[BisonHurdler]

well you guyz obviously missed the race a coupla months earlier in oslo where mj got whupped in oslo where for all his might he coudn't chase ff down from lane inside & took the 19.82 v 19.85 beating which inspired the 19.32

"scared wabbit"

Even though the only reason FF beat MJ in that race (aside from the fact that FF is damn fast in his own right) was MJ's horrible start. And his start in Atlanta wasn't all that great either (stumble and all).

[eldrick]

well you guyz obviously missed the race a coupla months earlier in oslo where mj got whupped in oslo where for all his might he coudn't chase ff down from lane inside & took the 19.82 v 19.85 beating which inspired the 19.32

"scared wabbit"

Even though the only reason FF beat MJ in that race (aside from the fact that FF is damn fast in his own right) was MJ's horrible start. And his start in Atlanta wasn't all that great either (stumble and all).

ff ran 19.82 on the narrowest, toughest 200 track that ever drew breathe - i'd be surprised if mj even with a decent start wouda beaten him by more than a handful of hunderedths - remember mj went "only" a 19.77 soon after ( presumably good start ) on a "proper" 200 track

oslo showed that there was little to separate them at the time

[tandfman]

well you guyz obviously missed the race a coupla months earlier in oslo where mj got whupped in oslo where for all his might he coudn't chase ff down from lane inside & took the 19.82 v 19.85 beating which inspired the 19.32

"scared wabbit"

I think you're confusing respect and fear.

[eldrick]

not from where i watched it ( tv )

[tandfman]

We may both be engaging in foolish speculation when we try to discern his inner motivations from his appearance. How do you distinguish fear from intensity? Isn't it common to see a certain manic drive in sprinters who win the Olympic 100m or 200m? They often line up against people who have beaten them in the past. Are they all afraid? I don't think so.

In fact, their motivations are probably quite multi-faceted and I doubt if you can really see a single element of them clearly in their facial expressions or manner of running.

[BisonHurdler]

well you guyz obviously missed the race a coupla months earlier in oslo where mj got whupped in oslo where for all his might he coudn't chase ff down from lane inside & took the 19.82 v 19.85 beating which inspired the 19.32

"scared wabbit"

Even though the only reason FF beat MJ in that race (aside from the fact that FF is damn fast in his own right) was MJ's horrible start. And his start in Atlanta wasn't all that great either (stumble and all).

ff ran 19.82 on the narrowest, toughest 200 track that ever drew breathe - i'd be surprised if mj even with a decent start wouda beaten him by more than a handful of hunderedths - remember mj went "only" a 19.77 soon after ( presumably good start ) on a "proper" 200 track

oslo showed that there was little to separate them at the time

Using your argument about the narrowness of the turn, if MJ was on the lane inside of him and only lost by 0.03 seconds with a horrendous start (see: up right away, standing), I'm not sure FF's run was even the most impressive of the two overall . . . the breaking of MJ's streak certainly was impressive, however.


Edit: Also, after blazing 19.70w and 19.66 a month earlier, that probably gave MJ a little bit of breathing room in his mind, although I have no doubt he would've still considered that within FF's range.

[OKOWO]

C'mon Eldrick. I admitted I didn't fully see the Xman race. Whether or not mj was "petrified" is debatable at best. One thing is for certain, most sprinters would tell you that you don't run 19.32 "tight".

There was an interview on the BBC last year in which MJ admitted that after watching FF narrowly miss the 100m WR in Lousanne earlier "because he threw his hands up", he was so obsessed (his words) with trying to beat frankie to the turn in their head to head in Oslo, so much so that he completely lost form and focus in the stretch, allowing FF to dip for the win, a loss he said got him so "mad" that in the Atlanta final the only thing on his mind right to the line was that race (i.e threat from FF). He added he couldn't contemplate stepping on the medal rostrum to pick up a bronze or silver, having raced in gold shoes!

[eldrick]

okowo, you are a knowledgeable mj fan ( from iaaf forums ) - how woud you describe the look on his face in atlanta race ?