History's fastest relay splits..but which is most impressive

[paulthefan]

Id say that there is one relay split on that list (see T&FN home page for link to list) that stands out far and wide above all the others.... can you guess it.... Im not going to be able to contain myself for too long so please post your pick quick.

[paulthefan]

ok.. on second thought maybe there are 2 or 3 that really stand out ...

[Daisy]

For reference:

42.91 Michael Johnson (US) ’93 WC
43.00 Quincy Watts (US) ’92 OG
43.1+ Maurice Peoples (US) ’73 NCAA

• Antonio Pettigrew (US) ’97 WC

43.2(A) Ron Freeman (US) ’68 OG

• Pettigrew ’98 Goodwill
  Johnson ’98 Goodwill
  Jeremy Wariner (US) ’06 Texas

43.36 Butch Reynolds (US) ’93 WC
43.4 Watts ’91 WC
43.41 Steve Lewis (US) ’92 OG
43.42 Chris Brown (Bahamas) ’05 WC
43.49 Johnson ’99 WC

• Darrold Williamson (US) ’05 NCAA
  Wariner ’05 WC

43.5 Larry Black (US) ’72 Penn

• Julius Sang (Kenya) ’72 OG
  Roddie Haley (US) ’86 Penn
  Johnson ’88 Drake
  Johnson ’90 NCAA
  Tyree Washington (US) ’98 Goodwill

43.51 Davian Clarke (Jamaica) ’97 WC
43.53 Calvin Harrison (US) ’00 OG
43.57 Mark Richardson (GB) ’97 WC
43.59 Watts ’93 WC

[paulthefan]

OK.. here is my ranking of the rankings....


43.5 Julius Sang (Kenya) ’72 OG
43.1+ Maurice Peoples (US) ’73 NCAA
43.5 Larry Black (US) ’72 Penn[list]
43.2(A) Ron Freeman (US) ’68 OG
43.4 Watts ’91 WC (jr in college)
43.4 Darrold Williamson (US) ’05 NCAA
43.5 Roddie Haley (US) ’86 Penn
42.91 Michael Johnson (US) ’93 WC
43.00 Quincy Watts (US) ’92 OG


of course there are other marks from Tommie Smith and Henry Carr and earlier 400 guys that would rank here as well. but I stuck to only the list provided on the home page..........here the NCAA marks get a boost up.. hence the placement of DW's '05 mark...
OG marks and early marks get a big boost when favorable to the concurrent WR. Sangs ranks first on these counts and due to his coming from a nation with limited 400 history at the time.. lets face it that split was a bolt of lightning in '72

[paulthefan]

For those that remember seeing Julius Sang run,

http://www.nccu.edu/campus/athletics/tfjsang.html

[EPelle]

Watts 43,00 was most impressive to me. Have never seen anyone grace the track like the Q. He made that run look effortless as he strode down the backstretch and extended his lead.

[kuha]

Watts 43,00 was most impressive to me. Have never seen anyone grace the track like the Q. He made that run look effortless as he strode down the backstretch and extended his lead.

QW was certainly in awesome form in 1992... I saw him run 43.83 at Zurich that year and it was quite a sight. (For that matter, Danny Everett's OT performance that year in New Orleans was quite impressive, as well.)

[ndamix]

Watts 43,00 was most impressive to me. Have never seen anyone grace the track like the Q. He made that run look effortless as he strode down the backstretch and extended his lead.

I especially liked the way Q did a gradual cut-in to the pole after the break (when he was positioned in one of the outer lanes) to lengthen that position; as opposed to the immediate cut-ins you see most runners use at the break.

[jlightnin]

43.00 Quincy Watts (US) ’92 OG

I thought Quincy Watts split was 43.20?


Still that's blazing either way it goes.

[Kevin Richardson]

Most Impressive Relay Leg

My vote would go to Michael Franks, from Southern Illinois. While the precise race eludes me (I have it on a faded videotape, somewhere) running the last leg of the 4x4, the exchange from Ray Armistead to Franks was dropped and the baton rolled onto the infield, beside the track. Franks stopped, picked up the baton, and pursued the Soviet, now some 20-odd meters in front of him. Without letting the strain of making up that gap play into it, he ended up dashing by the Soviet on the home stretch. The official split was in the 45 range, but given that he came to a complete stop, then started over, it had to equate to a mid-43 or so. Time notwithstanding, it was a gutsy performance against a longstanding rival.

[JohnG]

Re: Most Impressive Relay Leg

My vote would go to Michael Franks, from Southern Illinois. While the precise race eludes me (I have it on a faded videotape, somewhere) running the last leg of the 4x4, the exchange from Ray Armistead to Franks was dropped and the baton rolled onto the infield, beside the track. Franks stopped, picked up the baton, and pursued the Soviet, now some 20-odd meters in front of him. Without letting the strain of making up that gap play into it, he ended up dashing by the Soviet on the home stretch. The official split was in the 45 range, but given that he came to a complete stop, then started over, it had to equate to a mid-43 or so. Time notwithstanding, it was a gutsy performance against a longstanding rival.

I recall Franks coming from behind to beat GDR in the 1985 World Cup. Could that be the race you're thinking of? He got the baton from Armstead but the official splits were 46.6 for Armstead and 44.2 for Franks. Looks like it was the race you're thinking of and whoever took the splits only timed Franks from when he picked the baton up (that would explain such a slow split for Armstead).

By the way, what went wrong with Franks? 44.47 at barely 22 and then very little. In the mid-80s, it looked like him, Clark and Schoenlebe were the future of 400m running but he never fulfilled his promise in the way the latter two did.

[Texas]

I'll take Herb McKenley's 44.6 at the 52 Olympics. The WR was something like 45.8 in the open 400.

[EPelle]

Funny, that reminds me of:

MJ is histories only sub10.10/44.00 sprinter.He is the most amazing all around sprinter in history.Yes I can talk Lon Myers,Eric Liddell,Herb McKenley,Henry Carr and Tommie Smith.

Herb McKenley still being the only sprinter to make it to an Olympic final in all three sprints.

Herb McKenley cooks a 44.6 relay leg in the 52 Olympic 4x4. That was histories first sub 45.0.

Another poster shares your same interest, and almost the same post (the last one mentioned above). Small world.

[Powell]

Re: Most Impressive Relay Leg

By the way, what went wrong with Franks? 44.47 at barely 22 and then very little. In the mid-80s, it looked like him, Clark and Schoenlebe were the future of 400m running but he never fulfilled his promise in the way the latter two did.

Clark realized his potential? He never won a medal in a global championship, whereas Franks at least got a WCh silver and won the 1985 World Cup.

[JohnG]

Re: Most Impressive Relay Leg

By the way, what went wrong with Franks? 44.47 at barely 22 and then very little. In the mid-80s, it looked like him, Clark and Schoenlebe were the future of 400m running but he never fulfilled his promise in the way the latter two did.

Clark realized his potential? He never won a medal in a global championship, whereas Franks at least got a WCh silver and won the 1985 World Cup.

Fair comment - I completely forgot Franks' silver in 83. To be fair to Clark, though, setting a pb at an Olympics and getting a 4th place in what was the greatest 400 for decades, was fulfillment of his talent.